Tausi Insider

The public hearing that will determine the fate of Rogers Communications Inc.’s RCI-B-T proposed $26-billion takeover of Shaw Communications Inc. SJR-B-T has turned out to be not so public after all – despite the Competition Tribunal committing to an “open court process.” Because of its potential implications for users of critical wireless and internet services, the merger of Canada’s two largest cable companies has attracted far more public attention than most hearings held by the Competition Tribunal, a quasi-judicial body that adjudicates on matters of civil competition. Many observers describe the hearings thus far as opaque and are calling for more transparency in the tribunal process. Repeatedly, during the first week of hearings, lawyers for both the cable companies and the Competition Bureau, which is attempting to block the merger, asked the judge to go into confidential sessions that have dragged on for hours. In addition, critical documents such as witness statements and t...

Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press Shaw Communications Inc. SJR-B-T has not recouped the $4.5-billion it has invested in its wireless business since 2016, an executive for the Calgary-based telecom told a Competition Tribunal hearing into the proposed $26-billion merger of Rogers Communications Inc. RCI-B-T and Shaw. Trevor English, chief financial and corporate development officer at Shaw, said the investment, which includes the $1.6-billion that Shaw paid to acquire wireless carrier Freedom Mobile, is “net negative” by about $3.3-billion. Shaw has also not generated any free cash flow from its wireless business, he noted. “We have not been able to increase our dividend since 2016 when we made the investment into Wind,” Mr. English said. (Shaw rebranded Wind Mobile to Freedom Mobile in late 2016.) As part of the proposed merger between Rogers and Shaw, the cable companies have agreed to divest Freedom, Canada’s fourth-largest wireless carrier, to Quebecor Inc.’s QBR-B-T telecom sub...

A government-mandated reduction in wireless prices by Canada’s three largest carriers had “significant and detrimental effects” on Shaw Communications Inc.’s Freedom Mobile, a Shaw executive told the Competition Tribunal hearing into the telecom’s proposed $26-billion merger with Rogers Communications Inc. Shaw president Paul McAleese told the tribunal that Ottawa’s request in 2020 that Rogers, BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. reduce the prices of their mid-tier cellphone plans over two years was “singularly the most traumatic event for the Freedom pricing construct.” Explainer: How the Rogers-Shaw merger ended up in front of the Competition Tribunal Shaw has yet to recoup $4.5-billion investment in Freedom Mobile, CFO tells tribunal Freedom Mobile typically charged about 25 to 30 per cent less than its larger competitors on account of having a “less mature” wireless network, Mr. McAleese said. That left the carrier in a difficult position when BCE’s Bell, Telus and Rogers dropped the prices...

The Competition Tribunal hearing into the proposed $26-billion merger of Rogers Communications Inc. RCI-B-T and Shaw Communications Inc. SJR-A-X has shifted to the potential cost savings that would be generated by combining Canada’s two largest cable companies. Cost savings, or efficiencies, are a critical issue because Canadian competition law allows a merger to close if it results in lower total costs for the combined business – even if the merger lessens competition. The provision in question is called the efficiencies defence and is contained within section 96 of the Competition Act. Rogers and Shaw are not publicly disclosing the dollar value of the efficiencies that they expect their merger to generate, although several witnesses have testified on behalf of the companies with regards to these calculations. That testimony has occurred largely out of the public eye, during confidential sessions, and documents relating to the expert testimony are heavily redacted. Shaw Communicati...

Finance Minister Paul Martin and Secretary of State for Financial Institutions Jim Peterson, right, in Ottawa on June 25, 1999. FRED CHARTRAND/CP Keldon Bester is a co-founder of the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project and a fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. Where is Paul Martin when you need him? In the late nineties, Canada’s banks had decided competition wasn’t for them. RBC and BMO announced their nuptials in January, 1998, and CIBC and TD followed suit in April of that year. Though the scale of RBC’s proposed purchase of HSBC is nowhere near that of the proposed consolidation in the nineties, regulators should learn from then-minister of finance Paul Martin and take a firm stance against Canada’s largest bank absorbing a competitor. The brazenness of the bank’s consolidation plans 20 years ago cannot be overstated. Canada would have gone from five major banks to two megabanks and a ticking clock on the future acquisition of their remaining competitors. B...

The Competition Tribunal hearing into the proposed $26-billion merger of Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. is set to wrap up and final oral arguments are set to be heard on Dec. 13 and 14. Melissa Tait/Tausi Insider After 18 days of testimony, scores of witnesses and tense moments of cross-examination, the Competition Tribunal hearing into the proposed $26-billion merger of Rogers Communications Inc. RCI-B-T and Shaw Communications Inc. SJR-B-T is coming to a close. While the tribunal typically takes months to render a decision, Federal Court Chief Justice Paul Crampton, who is overseeing the hearings, said he would like to release a decision before Christmas if possible. Oral arguments are set to be heard on Dec. 13 and 14, more than a week after Thursday’s conclusion of the evidentiary portion of the hearing. The Competition Bureau is asking the tribunal to block the merger of Canada’s two largest cable companies, a deal in which Quebecor Inc.’s QBR-B-T Videot...

Shaw Communications Inc.’s assertion that its wireless business was not profitable “doesn’t stand up to scrutiny,” a lawyer for the Competition Bureau told a hearing into Shaw’s proposed $26-billion merger with Rogers Communications Inc. Lawyers for the Competition Bureau made their closing arguments in front of the Competition Tribunal on Tuesday, wrapping up a case that has spanned four weeks and included evidence from 45 witnesses. The Competition Bureau is asking the tribunal to block the merger of Canada’s two largest cable companies. The watchdog argues that the deal, which would see Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron Ltd. acquire Shaw’s Freedom Mobile, would leave Canada’s fourth-largest wireless carrier severely weakened. The Competition Bureau has positioned Shaw’s Freedom Mobile as a “maverick” competitor responsible for driving down cellphone bills. However, Shaw executives have testified that the carrier, which serves 1.7 million customers in Ontario, Alberta and B.C., has not ge...

Rogers and Shaw are aiming to close their merger by the end of the year, with the possibility of extending their deadline to Jan. 31. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press Lawyers representing Rogers Communications Inc. RCI-B-T and Shaw Communications Inc. SJR-B-T touted the potential benefits of their contested $26-billion merger for consumers during the final day of hearings in front of the Competition Tribunal. The Competition Bureau is asking the tribunal to block the deal in its entirety, arguing that it would result in higher cellphone bills and poorer wireless service, particularly in Western Canada. At issue is whether the divestiture of Shaw’s Freedom Mobile to Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron Ltd. for $2.85-billion would weaken Canada’s fourth-largest wireless carrier, which serves customers in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. The competition watchdog asserts that Videotron has no track record of operating in Western Canada, and that separating Freedom from assets such as Shaw’...

Canada’s competition tribunal said on Thursday it had not arrived at a decision regarding the $20-billion merger between Rogers Communications Inc RCI-B-T and Shaw Communications Inc SJR-B-T. “The Tribunal wishes to advise the public that it intends to provide 24-48 hours notice on its website of the time and date of the issuance of its decision,” the competition watchdog said in a notice on its website. The much-awaited decision on the merger, one of the country’s biggest, will put an end to a 20-month-old dispute with the antitrust authority. The agency had blocked the merger on grounds that it would reduce competition. The companies had proposed selling Shaw’s Freedom Mobile Inc to Quebecor Inc to facilitate the merger, but the bureau rejected the plan saying Quebecor was not a viable competitor with the merged entity. https://www.tausiinsider.com/competition-tribunal-yet-to-decide-on-roger-shaw-merger-will-give-notice-ahead-of-decision/?feed_id=327064&_unique_id=6410fe91...

Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg at the UN Climate Change Conference, in Glasgow, Scotland, on Nov. 2, 2021. POOL/The Associated Press Billionaire Michael Bloomberg, the owner of Bloomberg L.P., is interested in acquiring either Wall Street Journal parent Dow Jones or the Washington Post, news website Axios reported on Friday, citing an unnamed source familiar with the matter. Such a merger would create a financial data and news giant, further firming up the world’s 12th-richest man’s strong hold on the business and likely allowing his company to sell more Bloomberg Terminals – the main source of its revenue. According to the Axios report, Mr. Bloomberg sees News Corp-owned Dow Jones, also the publisher of Barron’s and MarketWatch, as the ideal fit but would buy the Post if Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos was interested in selling. Bloomberg L.P., the Washington Post and Dow Jones did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. Shares of News Corp were up ...

The Competition Bureau has expanded its appeal of the Competition Tribunal’s decision to permit a proposed $20-billion deal between the telecoms, adding two claims of legal error to its initial arguments. The bureau will face off against Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. at the Federal Court of Appeal on Jan. 24, just one week before the takeover deadline of Jan. 31 set by the companies. The tribunal is a quasi-judicial body that adjudicates cases brought by the bureau, an independent law-enforcement agency that seeks to protect competition in Canada. The bureau is arguing the tribunal should have first considered the deal just between Rogers and Shaw alone, and then the divestiture of Freedom Mobile to Quebecor Inc., instead of considering the divestiture alongside the original deal. But the tribunal ruled that even if it had analyzed the merger as the bureau wanted, it would have come to the same decision. Opinion: Canadians should be wary of the rushed Rogers...

Rupert Murdoch during the Herman Kahn Award Gala, in New York in 2018. Mary Altaffer/The Associated Press Rupert Murdoch has pulled the plug on a proposal to bring back together his News Corp. and Fox Corp. FOXA-Q, saying the merger isn’t coming at the right time for shareholders. In similar statements Tuesday, the companies said their boards received letters from Murdoch withdrawing the plan. “Mr. Murdoch indicated that he and (son and Fox Corp. chief executive) Lachlan K. Murdoch have determined that a combination is not optimal for shareholders of News Corp. and Fox at this time,” the statements said. The elder Murdoch first floated merging News Corp. – which owns The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, The Sun and The Times in the U.K., and book publisher HarperCollins – and Fox Corp. that controls Fox News, Fox Sports and local TV stations, in October, according to regulatory filings. The media mogul had sent letters to the companies’ boards, which formed committees to look into...

Shaw Communications Inc.’s assertion that its wireless business was not profitable “doesn’t stand up to scrutiny,” a lawyer for the Competition Bureau told a hearing into Shaw’s proposed $26-billion merger with Rogers Communications Inc. Lawyers for the Competition Bureau made their closing arguments in front of the Competition Tribunal on Tuesday, wrapping up a case that has spanned four weeks and included evidence from 45 witnesses. The Competition Bureau is asking the tribunal to block the merger of Canada’s two largest cable companies. The watchdog argues that the deal, which would see Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron Ltd. acquire Shaw’s Freedom Mobile, would leave Canada’s fourth-largest wireless carrier severely weakened. The Competition Bureau has positioned Shaw’s Freedom Mobile as a “maverick” competitor responsible for driving down cellphone bills. However, Shaw executives have testified that the carrier, which serves 1.7 million customers in Ontario, Alberta and B.C., has not ge...