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Globalive launches new public push against Rogers-Shaw merger

Globalive has launched a new avenue for people to share their concerns about the Rogers-Shaw merger with members of the federal government.

NoMerger.ca provides a template message opposing the merger and allows Canadians to share it with their Member of Parliament based on the postal code they provide.

“The Rogers-Shaw merger will only reduce competition and increase prices. Tell [Minister François-Philippe Champagne] to follow the advice of the Competition Commissioner and the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology and reject this merger,” the template reads.

Anthony Lacavera is the founder of Globalive and has been one of the many persistent voices against the merger.

Globalive had previously offered to buy Freedom Mobile when Rogers and Shaw agreed to sell it. The company’s $3.75 billion offer was rejected in favour of Vidéotron’s $2.85 billion offer. Lacavera was the founder and CEO of Wind Mobile before the company was sold to Shaw and rebranded to Freedom.

The $26 billion Rogers-Shaw merger needs approval from three parties. The Competition Bureau sought to block it through a hearing with the Competition Tribunal, which backed the telecoms. The bureau will present its case to the Federal Court of Appeal Tuesday.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved the broadcasts aspect of the merger in March 2022. However, a recent application from TekSavvy asks the CRTC to examine Rogers’ plans to lease its broadband network to Vidéotron at a lower price than wholesale rates, which it alleges violates the Telecommunications Act. The CRTC has yet to respond to the application.

Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne must provide the third avenue of approval.

This isn’t the only time Lacavera has pushed for the Innovation Minister to stop the merger. He launched a similar measure on his personal website last year, asking Minister Champagne and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to end “the fake competition in wireless.”

Lacavera told MobileSyrup the original measure on his personal website was in response to many of the early concerns he heard for Canadians on the merger. But it only targeted Minister Champagne and Prime Minister Trudeau. He was also getting similar requests on how people could contact their MPs directly, resulting in the creation of NoMerger.ca.

While both websites are similar, Lacavera said he wouldn’t get rid of one or the other. “We are checking the form inputs to ensure there are no bots or duplicates.”

The new website launched Tuesday, and 4,000 Canadians have sent emails in the first 24 hours.

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Anthony Lacavera asks regulators to block Québecor’s Freedom Mobile acquisition

Anthony Lacavera has written to regulatory bodies to reject the sale of Freedom Mobile to Québecor in his latest act of protest.

The chairman of Globalive said Rogers “consistently refused to engage” with the company and their $3.75 billion offer to buy Freedom Mobile, The Globe and Mail reports. Globalive’s offer is worth $900 million more than Québecor’s $2.85 billion purchase.

Rogers announced its decision to sell Freedom Mobile earlier this month in a bid to please regulatory bodies who said Rogers shouldn’t be allowed to take over Freedom Mobile as part of its $26 billion merger with Shaw.

Rogers will retain 450,000 customers whose wireless services come bundled with cable and internet.

“We are (and have always been) prepared to acquire Shaw Mobile and to continue to offer bundled services to its 450,000 customers,” Lacavera wrote in the letter addressed to Matthew Boswell, the Commissioner of Competition, and Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development François-Philippe Champagne.

Lacavera told The Globe and Mail that government intervention is needed to ensure the sale benefits Canadians and not the company’s shareholders.

Rogers “will always choose a weaker competitor over a stronger one as this is obviously the best business decision for Rogers,” he wrote.

Lacavera’s investment firm founded Freedom Mobile in 2008. Formerly known as Wind Mobile, Shaw bought the company in 2016 for $1.6 billion and rebranded it. The former founder expressed his interest in buying back the company before it was even on the market. 

The purchase is still a possibility, given the proposal to sell Freedom Mobile to Québecor needs regulatory approval. Minister Champagne said his office would focus on affordability when examining the transaction.

“What is going to be framing our decision is going to make sure that rates are more affordable [and] that we have more competition in Canada that can foster innovation for decades to come,” he said at the Collision conference in Toronto last week.

Rogers needs similar regulatory approval for its takeover of Shaw. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is the only body to approve the merger. The Competition Bureau has sought to block it. The bureau and the two companies have agreed to a meditation process set to take place on July 4th and 5th. The Ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development also needs to provide approval.

Source: The Globe and Mail 

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Globalive takes its offer to buy Freedom Mobile to Shaw

Globalive has taken its offer to purchase Freedom Mobile to Shaw, The Globe and Mail reports.

The company, chaired by Wind Mobile founder Anthony Lacavera, presented a $3.75 billion offer to Shaw directly. Wind Mobile was sold to Shaw in 2016 and rebranded to Freedom Mobile.

According to The Globe and Mail, the offer is the same one Globalive made to Rogers in May and frustration from the process led Globalive to take the offer directly to Shaw.

Rogers is selling Freedom Mobile to appease competition concerns and gain approval for the $26 billion takeover of Shaw.

“We have made our offer for Freedom Mobile to Shaw directly because Rogers has continued to decline to engage with us despite the strength of our $3.75B offer,” Lacavera tweeted Friday.

“Why? Simply because Rogers does not want there to be more competition in wireless services.”

A Shaw spokesperson told The Globe and Mail it’s not in a position to look into the offer, as its deal with Rogers prohibits it.

Rogers has been in talks with various companies to buy Freedom, including Xplornet and Vidéotron.

Source: The Globe and Mail

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Every way the sale of Freedom Mobile could play out

Rogers’ merger with Shaw Communications has dominated headlines for the better part of the last year as it slowly inches towards completion.

The $26 billion acquisition is arguably one of the largest mergers of its kind, and it will change the way the wireless market operates, a cause of contention for many.

With Canadians paying some of the highest mobile bills globally, many worry the merger could further impact their bills. The concern is also playing on the minds of federal regulators. The Competition Bureau, one of the federal bodies that must approve the merger, has filed applications to block Rogers’ acquisition of Shaw. 

“We are taking action to block this merger to preserve competition and choice for an essential service that Canadians expect to be affordable and high quality,” Matthew Boswell, the Commissioner of Competition, said.

The Bureau worries removing Shaw as its own entity will reduce competition in an already concentrated wireless market. The Bureau found competition between Rogers and Shaw has declined and will continue if the merger is approved. They said Shaw’s wireless offering is already an established competitor and eliminating it will lessen competition within and outside Shaw’s service area.

Rogers is selling Freedom Mobile to appease federal bodies. (Image credit: Shutterstock)

According to Reuters, the Bureau’s decision to block the merger doesn’t mean they can’t reach a conclusion with Rogers.  “The commencement of litigation does not prevent the parties and the Bureau from reaching an agreement to remedy the competition concerns at any time,” a spokesperson told the publication.

Rogers is looking to sell Freedom Mobile to appease competition concerns. But the real game is to find a carrier that can make Freedom Mobile a fourth competitor, and there are many ways this can go.

Xplornet

Xplornet Communications appeared to be the first company Rogers took an interest in. In April, the Globe and Mail reported that Rogers presented a deal to the federal government to see the rural internet service provider, owned by New York-based Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, buy Freedom Mobile. 

“Anthony Lacavera expressed interest in buying Freedom Mobile before Rogers said it would sell the asset.”

Executives from Xplornet and Rogers have remained quiet on the potential offer. During Rogers’ 2022 Q1 conference call, CEO Tony Staffieri said, “we’re not going to comment on any rumours that are out there.”

Stonepeak acquired Xplornet in June 2020.

Globalive

Globalive’s founder, Anthony Lacavera, expressed interest in buying Freedom Mobile before Rogers said it would sell the asset. Lacavera started Wind Mobile in 2008 before selling it to Shaw in 2015. The company was renamed Freedom Mobile in 2016.

Globalive’s offer is worth $3.75 billion, and according to the Globe and Mail, Twin Point Capital and Baupost Group are assisting with financing for the project.

Lacavera has made it increasingly clear that he wants to acquire Freedom Mobile. He told MobileSyrup the company successfully competed “head to head” with competitors when Globalive headed the company, and they’ll do it again if they acquire Freedom Mobile.

Lacavera said regulatory issues contributed to the sale of the company to Shaw. At the time, investors he brought in faced regulatory approvals to continue operating in Canada. Lacavera told MobileSyrup that his current investor group is primarily U.S.-based.

The company could run into similar regulatory issues despite careful measures, repeating its past. While any of the investors in the company’s making offers could face regulatory problems down the road, Globalive has already lived through this and showed that it could not hold onto the company.

MobileSyrup interviewed Anthony Lacavera in 2014.

Québecor

Québecor Inc. is also in talks to acquire Freedom Mobile despite being discluded from previous decisions. The parent company of Vidéotron owns 294 blocks of spectrum in the 3500MHz band across Canada, which is seen as a positive when it comes to expanding wireless services.

While Québecor Inc. has expressed interest in acquiring Freedom Mobile, it has also said it alternatively could choose to instead expand its business elsewhere. 

“Making comments on this specific situation is certainly not in our best interest,” Pierre Karl Péladeau, Québecor’s CEO, said on its involvement with Freedom Mobile during a conference call discussing the company’s first-quarter financial results.

A new offer

As reported by the Globe and Mail, the latest group of buyers is made up of the LiUNA Pension Fund of Central and Eastern Canada, the Musqueam Capital Corp, the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, Fengate Asset Management, and Aquilini Equities. The publication report’s the company’s have collectively presented the federal government with an offer to acquire Freedom Mobile.

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Xplornet enters talks to buy Freedom Mobile

Xplornet Communications Inc. is in talks to acquire Freedom Mobile.

The Globe and Mail reports the New Brunswick-based rural internet provider is negotiating to become the fourth-largest cellphone company in Canada. Xplornet has roughly a million internet customers across the country.

Rogers is currently in the process of taking over Shaw Communications, which owns Freedom Mobile. Rogers has to sell Freedom to create a fourth-leading cellphone provider to gain approval.

Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne said Shaw wouldn’t be allowed to transfer all of its wireless licenses to Rogers if the merger of the two companies is approved.

Globalive is also reportedly in talks to purchase Freedom Mobile. Anthony Lacavera, who serves as the head of Globalive, founded Wind Mobile in 2008 and sold it to Shaw in 2016.

“We believe Globalive is well-positioned to be the acquirer given our unique track record of bringing independent competition to the Canadian market,” Lacavera told MobileSyrup. “We brought prices down and improved services for consumers before, and we will do it again.”

Source: Globe and Mail

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Wind founder’s company Globalive offers to buy Freedom for $3.75 billion

Globalive has offered to buy Freedom Mobile for $3.75 billion.

Anthony Lacavera is the founder and chairman of Globalive, and he also founded Wind in 2008. Lacavera sold Wind to Shaw Communications in 2016 for $1.6 billion. Shaw rebranded the company to Freedom.

According to the Globe and Mail, the all-cash offer includes acquiring the company’s wireless licenses, customer accounts, cell towers, and stores.

The news comes as Rogers tries to gain regulatory approval to merge with Shaw. But to do that, the company may have to sell Freedom to create competition in Canada’s telecom market.

Rogers is currently meeting with prospective buyers, but it isn’t clear if Globalive was ever on that list. The Globe and Mail reports representatives presented Globalive’s offer to Rogers last week.

Lacavera has been vocal about his interest in buying back Freedom. In December, he made his interests clear, stating it would be good for the Canadian market if Freedom became independent.

The Globe and Mail reports Twin Point Capital and Baupost Group, two U.S.-based investment groups, will finance the transaction.

MobileSyrup has reached out to both Lacavera and Globalive for comment and will provide a response once available.

Source: Globe and Mail