QBCRF - Rogers/Shaw extend deadline for C$20B combination to Feb. 17

• Rogers Communications ( NYSE: RCI ), Shaw Communications ( NYSE: SJR ) and Quebecor (QBR.B:CA) have extended the outside date of the transaction that provides for Rogers' C$20B takeover of Shaw.
• The deadline for the combination had been Jan. 31. Now, the companies have extended it to Feb. 17, with Canada's minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne apparently in no hurry to sign off on the companies' timetable .
• Champagne's approval of transferring wireless licenses from Shaw to Quebecor - allowing for the sale of Shaw's Freedom Mobile to Quebecor subsidiary Vidéotron - is the last real hurdle for the deal, which last week won appeals court approval .
• Now the three companies have moved the deadline for the Freedom Mobile acquisition and the Rogers/Shaw combination by a few weeks, and says "All parties remain committed to the pro-competitive transactions, which will deliver significant benefits to Canada and Canadian consumers."

For further details see: