Strike Two… The Commissioner Loses Second Injunction To Block Merger

Unlike in some jurisdictions, Canadian merger review has not given rise to significant excitement of late.  The recent Secure/Tervita case may have changed that.  On June 30, 2021, the Commissioner of Competition brought an 11^th hour application for an "interim interim" injunction to prevent Secure Energy Services Inc. from closing its acquisition of Tervita Corporation.  That application failed, and a late night emergency appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal also failed.  Minutes later, just after midnight on July 2^nd, the transaction closed.

Once bitten but not twice shy, the Commissioner returned to the fray on August 4, 2021, seeking an order from the Competition Tribunal under section 104 of the Competition Act to prevent Secure from integrating the Tervita assets, and requiring that they be held and operated separately pending a decision by the Tribunal on the Commissioner's section 92 application as to whether the merger was likely to prevent or lessen