Rogers announced on Monday afternoon it has sold the entirety of its Cogeco investment to Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, an institutional investor based in Quebec City.
The private transaction, valued at $829 million, was announced on December 11, and is part of Rogers’ strategy to aggressively reduce its debt leverage ratio, said the latter in a statement.
“This sale further demonstrates our commitment to strengthen our investment grade balance sheet and aggressively reduce our debt leverage ratio,” said Tony Staffieri, President and Chief Executive Officer of Rogers. “We’re tracking six months ahead on our deleveraging priorities and we’re committed to reducing our debt leverage ratio even further.”
The sale is expected to bring Rogers’ debt leverage ratio down to 4.7x by the end of the year, an improvement from the 4.8x ratio projected at the end of the third quarter. This marks a continued decrease from the 4.9x ratio recorded at the end of Q3, explained the company.
“Already active with Cogeco Communications through past acquisitions, CDPQ is supporting the growth projects of this leading telecommunications company as connectivity needs continue to grow. This major share purchase, orchestrated by CDPQ, is key for the company and its plan to develop the North American market,” said Kim Thomassin, Executive Vice-President and Head of Québec at CDPQ, in a statement.
Cogeco Inc. has announced plans to repurchase 5,969,360 subordinate voting shares of its subsidiary, Cogeco Communications, from the Caisse. In a parallel move, Cogeco Communications will buy back 2,266,537 of its subordinate voting shares currently held by its parent company, Cogeco Inc. This strategic decision reflects a reshuffling of share ownership within the Cogeco corporate family.
“We’re delighted by an even stronger engagement by the CDPQ,” said Philippe Jetté, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Communications Inc. “This transaction is a unique opportunity for us to build shareholder value while pursuing the delivery of our strategic plan,” added Mr. Jetté.
Back in September 2020, Rogers and Altice USA announced it wanted to acquire Cogeco in a $4.9 billion deal, but the Audet family rejected the hostile takeover deal.
