Canada's Rogers and Shaw aim to merge into country's second largest mobile operator



03/16/2021 2:39 AM


Canadian telecommunications company Rogers Communications has announced the purchase of rival Shaw Communications. The deal will be valued at C$26 billion ($20.8 billion) and includes $4.8 billion in debt repayments from Shaw.



Summerian23
Shaw shareholders will receive C$40.50 per share, a premium of nearly 70% over the company's share price on Friday.

The deal will create Canada's second-largest wireless operator. Rogers and Shaw rank third and fourth respectively in annual revenues among Canadian wireless and cable operators. The combined company, which will reach $15.2 billion in revenue, will overtake current runner-up Telus with $12 billion in revenue, though it will lag behind the market leader, BCE ($18.3 billion in revenue). The companies say the merger will, among other things, help them accelerate the deployment of 5G networks in Canada.

The deal has yet to be approved by local regulators. Because of the scale of the merger in terms of the Canadian telecommunications market, regulators may have questions for Rogers and Shaw. The Canadian Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, has already said that the country's authorities will review the deal in terms of innovation, service availability and compliance with competition regulations. If the deal is approved by regulators, it should be completed in the first half of 2022.

source: wsj.com


More