Rogers, Shaw Head Back to Court as Appeal Body Takes On Case

Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. will head back to court on Jan. 24 to defend their $14.6 billion deal against the antitrust watchdog who seeks to block it.

(Bloomberg) — Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. will head back to court on Jan. 24 to defend their $14.6 billion deal against the antitrust watchdog who seeks to block it.

Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal will conduct a one-day hearing in Ottawa that day, Justice David Stratas ruled Tuesday during a case-management conference. The companies are trying to close their transaction by Jan. 31, nearly two years after it was announced.

Shaw, which earlier in the day was down as much as 2.3%, pared losses close down 1% at C$38.64. That’s less than 5% below the C$40.50 per share that Rogers has offered in the takeover.

Rogers shares rose after the court date was set, ending the day up 1.1% at C$64.04 — the highest close since June.

Stratas’s ruling comes days after the two telecommunication firms celebrated a major legal win at the Competition Tribunal, which shot down Competition Commissioner Matthew Boswell’s attempt to block the deal. The tribunal ruled that the transaction can proceed because it’s not likely to result in materially higher prices or a decline in service or innovation.

Boswell is now attempting to reverse that, arguing that the tribunal made errors in a case that has profound implications for how merger and competition law is applied in Canada. His lawyers attempted to get a longer timeline that would have seen the appeal hearings run past Jan. 31.

The companies can choose to extend their deal deadline, if they can also get the consent of Quebecor Inc., a cable and wireless firm that has agreed to buy most of Shaw’s wireless business.

(Updates share price, adds additional information on proposed timeline sought by competition commissioner.)

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