Shaw Communications, Inc. retained Paul Johnson, a former Bates White Partner and Chief Economist at the Canadian Competition Bureau, to analyze its potential $26 billion merger with Rogers Communications, Inc. Dr. Johnson was supported by a team of Bates White economists and consultants.
Rogers and Shaw are two Canadian telecommunications companies, whose merger the Canadian Competition Bureau sought to block. The deal would be among the largest in Canadian history and thus garnered widespread attention.
Dr. Johnson submitted two expert reports and testified before the Competition Tribunal, addressing the competitive significance of Shaw’s recently launched wireless brand, Shaw Mobile. In his testimony, Dr. Johnson concluded that there is no evidence that the Shaw Mobile launch resulted in increased competition. He showed that the Bureau’s expert failed to establish that the Shaw Mobile launch caused an increase in new subscribers, an increase in data usage, or a decrease in the average price of data.
Bates White has a partnership with Dr. Johnson, who owns and operates Rideau Economics in Ottawa, Ontario.
The Tribunal ruled in favor of the merging parties. More information on the hearing is available here.
