Court Rejects Attempt to Block Mountain Cable Sale
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has ruled against Rogers Communications’ attempt to block the sale of Mountain Cablevision to Shaw Communications. Shaw’s estimated $300 million purchase of the smaller cable company has been given the all-clear after a non-compete agreement struck between the owners of Rogers and Shaw Cable nearly ten years ago was described as restrictive of trade by the Court.
"By agreeing not to buy assets from third parties and as such, their effect will be to deprive vendors of independent cable companies of the full value of their businesses," the judge said in his ruling.
The court ruling sets a new precedent, industry observers say, by rejecting the arrangement that has stymied significant cable competition in Canada for almost a decade. Alberta-based Shaw will now get Mountain Cablevision’s 40,000-plus cable subscribers, along with its 28,000 Internet users and 27,000 cable telephony customers. (For more, click here and here).
