Block-buster: Competition Bureau Unable To Stop Rogers-Shaw Deal

On January 23, 2023, the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by the Commissioner of Competition (the "Commissioner") from the Competition Tribunal's (the "Tribunal") earlier decision refusing to grant the Commissioner's application to block the proposed amalgamation of Rogers Communications Inc. ("Rogers") and Shaw Communications Inc. ("Shaw"). The appellate court's decision comes under a month after the Tribunal released the ¹ The Commissioner has stated that he will not appeal the matter further. While industry-watchers have been eagerly anticipating this decision, as is discussed below, its ramifications will spread well beyond the telecom sector.

This case is the Bureau's second recent defeat challenging a transaction before the Tribunal. It is also the second case in a row in which the Bureau has failed to substantiate the anti-competitive effects required to block a transaction.