Rogers Falls to Lowest Since March With Edward Rogers About to File Suit

(Bloomberg) -- Shares of Rogers Communications Inc. dropped to their lowest point since March 3 as Edward Rogers prepared to file a petition with a British Columbia court to assert his control of the board.

Rogers fell 0.9% to C$56.02 as of 2:09 p.m. in Toronto after a 5.8% drop on Monday. Shares of its two main rivals, BCE Inc. and Telus Corp., were up on Tuesday. 

Shares of Shaw Communications Inc., which Rogers has agreed to buy for about $16 billion, were unchanged at C$34.72, well below the C$40.50 a share Rogers has offered.  

Canada’s largest wireless company has been in the grips of a family struggle for control, with two different men now claiming to be the chairman. Edward Rogers -- the only son of late founder Ted Rogers -- says he runs the board; his mother and two of his sisters say the chairman is former telecom executive John MacDonald. 

The B.C. Supreme Court will be asked to sort the matter out. Edward Rogers’s lawyers intend to file documents Tuesday and are seeking a hearing this week, according to people familiar with the matter and a letter they sent to Rogers Communications that cited the share price decline. 

“You will also have seen that, in addition to the stock price falling, analysts are now downgrading RCI’s stock in response to the uncertainty of the current situation,” says the text of the letter, sent Monday. “Again, that demonstrates it is in the best interests of RCI that it be resolved with all due dispatch.” 

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.