(Reuters) – Rogers Communications Inc on Monday said it had closed the takeover of smaller rival Shaw Communications Inc, days after Canada gave its final approval for the C$20 billion ($14.87 billion) deal.
Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne agreed to the transfer of wireless licenses held by Shaw’s Freedom Mobile unit to Quebecor Inc under some conditions, paving the way to create Canada’s no. 2 telecom company.
Quebecor announced it had closed the Freedom Mobile deal on Monday.
Here is the snapshot of key events in Rogers-Shaw merger:
Date Development
March 15, Rogers Communications says it will buy Shaw for
2021 about C$20 billion ($16.02 billion)
Aug. 5, 2021 The Canadian regulator starts to look into the
bid and obtains court orders to advance its
review
Jan. 10, Rogers appoints insider and industry veteran
2022 Tony Staffieri as president and CEO to lead the
company through Shaw’s acquisition
May 9, 2022 Canada’s antitrust agency seeks to block
Rogers-Shaw $16 billion merger
May 30, 2022 Rogers agrees with Canada’s competition bureau
to put Shaw merger on hold
June 3, 2022 Rogers asks tribunal to scrap the competition
bureau’s rejection, argues the merger will
create more competition rather than stifle it
June 17, Antitrust regulator says it remains opposed to
2022 Rogers plan to buy Shaw
June 18, Quebecor agrees to buy Shaw unit Freedom Mobile
2022 for an enterprise value of C$2.85 bln ($2.19
bln) to allay anti-competition concerns
June 24, Canada’s Rogers, Shaw and competition watchdog
2022 agree to start mediation
July 6, 2022 Rogers says talks to discuss possible remedies
to the blocked takeover of Shaw did not result
in a resolution
July 22, Canada’s antitrust agency says needs more time
2022 to investigate concession offered by Rogers
July 27, Rogers extends deadline to close the buyout
2022
Aug. 12, Rogers and Shaw finalize agreement to sell
2022 Freedom Mobile to Videotron, a unit of Quebecor
Oct. 28, Rogers, Shaw and Quebecor fail to mediate their
2022 differences with Canada’s competition bureau
over the bid
Dec. 30, Canada’s competition tribunal approves Rogers
2022 bid for Shaw
Jan. 3, 2023 A Federal Court put a stay on the Rogers-Shaw
merger following a request from Canada’s
Competition Bureau after antitrust tribunal’s
approval
Jan. 17, Rogers says the merger has been delayed long
2023 enough and must be allowed to proceed despite
the competition bureau’s opposition
Jan. 24, A Canadian court dismisses the competition
2023 bureau’s effort to overturn the merger approval
by Canada’s antitrust tribunal
Jan. 25, Canada’s Competition Bureau drops plans to kill
2023 the deal following two defeats in courts in
less than a month
Jan. 30, Rogers and Shaw extend deadline for their C$20
2023 billion ($15.01 billion) merger to Feb. 17 from
January end awaiting government approval
Feb. 17, Rogers further extends the deadline for the
2023 merger with Shaw for the fourth time to March
31
March 31, Canada grants the final approval for Rogers
2023 buyout of Shaw, paving the way for the creation
of the country’s No. 2 telecoms company
Rogers
April 3, closes
2023 Shaw acquisition; Quebecor closes
Freedom Mobile deal
($1 = 1.3453 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik, Aditya Soni, Tiyashi Datta and Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Arun Koyyur and Rashmi Aich)
