Judge asks Rogers, Shaw and competition bureau to convene for talks

Canada Federal Court Chief Justice Paul Crampton has directed counsel for Rogers Communication Inc, Shaw Communications Inc and the Competition Bureau to convene for a further case management conference on Tuesday.

Chief Justice Crampton, who is presiding over an antitrust case against Rogers’ takeover of Shaw, also asked all the parties to “reflect” about the deal, according to a notice posted on the Competition Tribunals’s website.

He added they should try and find if there is a compromise that could be stuck with the bureau that will ensure the proposed takeover will not likely prevent or lessen competition substantially.

The mediation between Rogers and Shaw and Canada’s competition bureau over the companies’ C$20 billion ($14.69 billion) merger failed on Thursday, as the parties did not agree on the terms put forward by the tribunal.

Rogers declined to comment when Reuters reached out to the company about the ruling, while Shaw and the Competition Bureau did not respond to requests for comment.

Rogers had launched its bid for Shaw in March 2021 and had offered to sell Shaw-owned Freedom Mobile to telecoms and media firm Quebecor Inc to allay the antitrust authority’s concerns over reduced competition in the Canadian market. Reuters