Billionaire Peladeau Plays Upstart as Deal Upends Canadian Telecom
- His willingness to buy assets helped seal Rogers-Shaw deal
- Executive declared himself a separatist, made political foray
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Communications firm Quebecor Inc. has finally landed its prize — a wireless business with 1.7 million subscribers that gives it a growth strategy outside its home base of Quebec. Now it has to make it pay off.
The company received approval from the Canadian government Friday to buy Freedom Mobile from Shaw Communications Inc. for C$2.85 billion ($2.1 billion). It’s linked to a C$20 billion telecommunications megadeal in which the rest of Shaw will be acquired by Rogers Communications Inc.