Rogers and Shaw applications are pictured on a cellphone in Ottawa on Monday, May 9, 2022. Closing arguments are expected to continue before the Competition Tribunal today, as the organization weighs whether the $26-billion merger of Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. should be blocked. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
OTTAWA – A lawyer for Shaw Communications Inc. says the Competition Bureau’s case against the company’s proposed merger with Rogers Communications Inc. is built on false assumptions and not based in reality.
Kent Thomson said in closing arguments that the assumptions and evidence about the market share of Shaw’s mobile operations put forth by the regulator and the prospects for future profitability of the business don’t stand up to the evidence.
He said Shaw faces a tough future and it was incumbent on executives to sell the firm to do right by their shareholders.
Thomson said Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron has better prospects in expanding its mobile business by acquiring Shaw’s Freedom Mobile because the company won’t also have to spend on wired cable and internet infrastructure.
On Tuesday, the bureau’s lawyers argued the deal will create an unprecedented relationship of dependence between Rogers and Videotron, a small, regional player.
The closing arguments at the Competition Tribunal are expected to hear from lawyers for Videotron later today.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 14, 2022.
Companies in this story: (TSX:RCI.B, TSX:SJR.B)
