Competition Bureau approves sale of Glentel to Bell and Rogers, implements measures to “preserve competition”

On November 28th 2014, Bell announced its intention to acquire Glentel, the independent wireless retailer better known for its Wireless Wave and T-Booth brands, for $594 million

Then on December 17th, Rogers filed an injunction with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against to prevent its sale, claiming that doing so would give Bell too much control over a retail channel that serves Rogers products.

Weeks later, Rogers decided to withdraw the injunction and form a joint venture with Bell for 50% of the Canadian retail arm of Glentel, noting the “agreement makes it easy for customers to continue to shop for Rogers products and services in their community.”

The deal was subject to approvals from regulatory boards and, today, the Competition Bureau announced it has reached an agreement between all parties that will “preserve competition in the wireless telecommunications sector.” The Bureau was concerned about Bell and Rogers sharing information to potentially boost prices but the deal puts in place a number of “administrative firewalls” that “prevent the sharing of competitively sensitive information, including subscriber information, pricing and promotional offers.”

Jeanne Pratt of the Bureau, said, “Telecommunications products and services are very important for Canadian consumers. The Bureau is confident that the agreement reached today will ensure that there will not be significant anti-competitive effects for Canadian consumers arising from BCE and Rogers’ acquisition of Glentel. We are pleased that BCE and Rogers chose to work with the Bureau to find a solution that addresses the Bureau’s concerns.”

Glentel has close to 494 retail locations in Canada and sell devices and monthly plans from various carriers, including Bell, Chatr, Fido, Rogers, SaskTel and Virgin Mobile. It also operates stores in Australia and the United States.

[source] CB [/source]