CRA consultants advised counsel to Transcontinental Inc. in its indirect acquisition of the shares of Quad/Graphics Canada, Inc. The primary overlap of the two firms was in the printing of high-volume retail flyers. CRA economists undertook several analyses, including estimating the efficiencies that would result from the merger, demonstrating minimal price effects in markets for other print services, and simulating the merger’s effects on large buyers using a bidding model that accounted for recent market entrants. The Competition Bureau did not seek any remedies in respect of the transaction but recently announced it will monitor competition in the retail flyer market over the next year.
Does your merger trigger Canada’s “rebuttable structural presumption”?
This article, authored by CRA’s Ian Cass, provides a brief reference guide along with a visual tool to help assess whether a merger meets the prescribed market...

