Rogers, Shaw vow to fight competition commissioner's effort to block merger, May 7, 2022 (Photo: The Canadian Press)

By The Canadian Press

Rogers, Shaw vow to fight competition commissioner’s effort to block merger

May 7, 2022 | 5:34 PM

TORONTO, ONT — The proposed $26-billion merger between two of Canada’s telecom titans has hit a new regulatory hurdle after the Commissioner of Competition has indicated it intends to block the deal.

Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. issued a joint statement late on Friday evening indicating they learned of the commissioner’s plans after markets closed for the day.

The companies say they were informed that the commissioner intends to file applications to the Competition Tribunal in a bid to prevent the merger, which the two firms had hoped to close by the end of the second quarter.

The Competition Bureau is one of three regulatory bodies whose approval is needed for the deal to go through. The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission signed off earlier this year, and the companies are actively trying to sell Shaw’s wireless business Freedom Mobile which is expected to be a condition of approval from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.

The Competition Bureau did not immediately respond to request for comment on the decision to fight the prospective merger, and neither Rogers nor Shaw offered details on the contents of the Friday notice.

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But both companies say they plan to press ahead with the deal and fight the commissioner’s efforts to block it.