Canada approves C$20 billion Rogers-Shaw deal (updated)

Quebecor

31/03/2023 13:43

(Repeats to additional subscribers)
       March 31 (Reuters) - Canada on Friday granted the final
approval for Rogers Communications Inc's  RCIb.TO  C$20 billion
($15 billion) buyout of Shaw Communications Inc  SJRb.TO ,
clearing the deal that will create the country's No. 2 telecoms
company. 
    Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science
and Industry, said at a press meet that he has approved the
transfer of wireless licenses held by Shaw's Freedom Mobile unit
to Quebecor Inc  QBRb.TO  under some conditions.   
    Freedom Mobile's planned C$2.85 billion sale to
Quebecor-owned Videotron has played a vital role in addressing
the antitrust concerns over the deal, given the overlap between
Rogers and Shaw's wireless division.
    U.S.-listed shares of Shaw were up 2.7% in premarket
trading.
    The deal had faced opposition from consumer advocates,
politicians and rival telecom companies as it unites two major
players in a market that already has some of the highest
wireless bills in the world. 
    But Canada's antitrust agency's efforts to block the merger
were rejected by the Competition Tribunal and a Canadian court,
in what was seen as a test case for the regulator's ability to
improve consumer choices in a country where a handful of
companies control large swaths of business.
    The deal's closing date has been delayed four times. It is
the biggest in the Canadian telecoms industry since BCE's
spinoff of its stake in Nortel Networks in a transaction valued
at C$88.7 billion in 2000.
    The buyout, struck in March 2021, will allow Ontario-focused
Rogers to gain from Shaw's strong presence in the sparsely
populated regions of Western Canada and help it double down on
its efforts to roll out 5G throughout the country.
    Canada's top telecom company by market value is BCE Inc
 BCE.TO . 

 (Reporting by Juby Babu, Aditya Soni and Chavi Mehta in
Bengaluru and Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Editing by Tom Hogue
Christian Schmollinger and Arun Koyyur)
 ((Juby.Babu@thomsonreuters.com;))