Telecom operator’s shares fall 5.8% after the sale announcement
La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is cashing out about $229m from Cogeco Communications Inc. while keeping its position as the company’s largest shareholder, according to a company press release.
Following the latest announcement, shares of Cogeco fell as much as 7.2 percent on Tuesday before closing at $67.50, down 5.8 percent, the Financial Post reported.
La Caisse plans to sell a block representing nearly 11 percent of Cogeco’s issued and outstanding subordinate shares at $67.45 per share as part of a “periodic portfolio rebalancing.”
The buyer or buyers were not disclosed, the Financial Post reported.
According to the press release, La Caisse intends to redeploy the proceeds into Québec companies. Cogeco Communications provides internet, mobile, TV and home phone services to about 1.6m residential and business customers in Canada and the United States, as stated in the press release.
La Caisse has been invested in Cogeco for more than a decade, starting with a $50m loan in 2013, followed by a US$315m contribution to the MetroCast acquisition in 2017 and participation in a $350m share purchase in 2023 that included Rogers Communications’ stake.
Cogeco operates under a dual-class share structure controlled by the Audet family through Cogeco Inc., which has influenced past takeover attempts, including the family’s rejection of a $10.3bn unsolicited offer from Altice USA Inc. in 2020, as reported by the Financial Post.
