(Ottawa) The Competition Bureau is asking the Federal Court of Appeal to overturn a decision of the Competition Tribunal dismissing its suit against the takeover of Shaw Communications by Rogers Communications for $26 billion.
The federal competition regulator says the court erred in how it assessed the deal and the proposal that would also see Videotron, a subsidiary of Quebecor, acquire Freedom Mobile, which is currently owned by Shaw.
In filing its appeal, the regulator says the court made fundamental errors of law.
In its decision issued last week, the Competition Tribunal found that the merger was unlikely to result in price increases for wireless customers and that it was satisfied that Freedom Mobile’s sales plan was sufficient to ensure that competition is not significantly reduced.
On Monday, the Competition Bureau said the Federal Court of Appeal had granted it an emergency stay that temporarily suspends the Competition Tribunal’s dismissal of its complaint against Rogers’ takeover of Shaw. The Bureau added that the stay would remain in place until his request for a stay and injunction can be heard.
If the Tribunal’s decision were upheld after the appeal process, all that would need to be approved by federal Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne is for the merger to go ahead. Champagne said he would only issue his decision once the ongoing legal battle has been clarified.