(Gatineau) Bell Media will have to sell hundreds of its advertising panels in Quebec and Ontario under an agreement with the Competition Bureau of Canada so that competition remains “vigorous” in the outdoor advertising sector.
It was the Competition Bureau which made the announcement Monday afternoon in a press release.
The agreement comes as Bell Media plans to buy Outedge Media Canada LP. Both companies are major players in the outdoor advertising billboard sector.
In its press release, the Competition Bureau indicates that “the merger would likely have the effect of considerably reducing competition” in the cities of Quebec, Trois-Rivières and Sherbrooke, and in the metropolitan regions of Montreal and Toronto.
“The disappearance of this rivalry would have led to higher prices and fewer options for customers. »
As a result, the bureau and Bell Media agreed that the Bell subsidiary would sell 669 billboards in the five cities.
The Competition Bureau says that if nothing was done, “other companies would face significant barriers to entering or expanding in these markets.”