Quebecor wants to make its case for Freedom divestiture to Competition Tribunal

Quebecor Inc. is asking the Competition Tribunal for permission to intervene in the regulator's review of the proposed merger of Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. In June, the three companies announced that they had reached a deal to sell Shaw's Freedom Mobile wireless to Quebecor for $2.85 billion. “This is a turning point for the Canadian wireless market,” Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau said at the time. “Quebecor’s Videotron subsidiary is the strong 4th player who, coupled with Freedom’s solid footprint in Ontario and Western Canada, can deliver concrete benefits for all Canadians.” In a Friday filing with the tribunal, Quebecor wrote that it "can offer a unique and distinct perspective on the sufficiency of the Divestiture in view of the Canadian wireless industry and Videotron's plans for aggressive competition." "Videotron is best positioned to provide evidence and its perspective concerning topics critical to evaluating the sufficiency of the Divestiture," the company wrote. The Quebec-based regional provider told the tribunal that it could assist the proceeding with information on the company's business plans in Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia (where Freedom currently operates), as well as the effect of the Freedom divestiture on competition in the wireless industry. Quebecor argued that by acquiring Freedom, it would be able to quickly and efficiently expand its operations outside of Quebec and will fulfill the federal government's longstanding policy objective of fostering the emergence of a fourth national wireless carrier." In an affidavit, Videotron's vice president of finance Jean-Francois Lescadres wrote that its acquisition of Freedom would approximately double Videotron's mobile customer base, and added that Videotron representatives, including Péladeau, met with officials from the Competition Bureau on June 30, and made its case for the approval of the divestiture of Freedom. Lescadres added that Videtron representatives were also present at the mediation sessions on July 4 and 5 between the bureau, sessions that ultimately ended without agreement. In its submission to the tribunal, made before the announcement of the plan to sell Freedom to Quebecor, the Competition Bureau argued that the divestiture of Freedom would not be enough to offset the harm to competition done by the merger. — Reporting by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca and editing by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca

Quebecor wants to make its case for Freedom divestiture to Competition Tribunal

News | July 8, 2022

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Quebecor wants to make its case for Freedom divestiture to Competition Tribunal

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