The Competition Tribunal, Canada’s merger court, ordered the Competition Bureau to pay Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications $9.58 million (USD) in compensation for a failed attempt at blocking a merger. Reuters reported that The Competition Tribunal ruled that Matthew Boswell, Commissioner of Competition, had an “unreasonable” approach to blocking the $14.7 billion merger finalized in March.
According to the tribunal, which ruled in favor of Rogers-Shaw on August 28, the companies asserted that Boswell “adopted an unnecessarily contentious approach throughout the litigation, which significantly increased the costs that they were required to incur.”
The Rogers-Shaw merger sparked controversy in Canada over fears of lessening competition when customers face some of the highest wireless bills in the world. Reuters reported previous opposition from Canada’s antitrust regulator, with efforts to block the deal rejected by the Competition Tribunal and a Canadian court.
Reader Interactions