
ST-HYACINTHE/TROIS-RIVIÈRES – Maskatel, a broadband, TV and telecom company serving the St-Hyacinthe and Drummondville region, and Xittel, a telecommunications service provider which sets up and operates both dark and lit fibre based telecommunication networks, announced Monday the merger of the two companies today.
“The merger will well position the newly formed entity as a telecommunications leader in Quebec’s regional markets,” reads the press release. Financial support from Birch Hill Equity Partners, the current owner of Maskatel, and Fondaction CSN, a Xittel shareholder, is backing the merger.
“This pooling of our two companies’ resources and expertise is excellent news for our residential and business clients. It positions us to offer them a broader range of value-added services,” said Jacques Taillefer, president of Maskatel.
The merger of the two companies “will enable us to reinforce the strength and security of our respective networks through the strategic use of our combined systems, and, above all, to serve more regions in Quebec,” added Xittel president Robert Proulx.
The two companies will continue to operate from their respective offices and no job losses are anticipated at this time. “In fact, we see our existing work force being utilized to a greater extent across the expanded territory in order to support our development efforts,” said Félix-Étienne Lebel of Birch Hill. “We also hope that other telecommunications companies are interested in joining us.”
“Fondaction CSN has been with Xittel since 2006. We have always believed in its potential. The merger announced today is good news for telecommunications in Quebec and access at a regional level,” added Geneviève Bouthillier, assistant head of investments at Fondaction CSN.
The merger is subject to regulatory approval however both parties are optimistic that those approvals will be granted in the next few months.
Maskatel was created through a merger of small telecommunications companies and is a major player in St-Hyacinthe and the surrounding area. It runs a fibre optic network in and around Drummondville and it offers telephone, Internet and digital TV services – including access to almost 200 channels, around 30 of which broadcast in high-definition – to both residential and business customers.
Xittel is comprised of a team of 50 people and was the first company in Canada to demonstrate that non-dominant telecommunications companies can use public rights-of-way as well as the support structures of incumbent phone companies. Xittel’s expansion is the result of several company acquisitions over the years. Since 2005, the firm has also been building and developing its own network to provide customers with a range of services, including Internet, IP telephony, IPTV, web hosting and colocation services, says the release.
The merger is subject to certain additional approvals, which are expected to be granted in the next few months, says the release. Xit telecom, the consulting engineering firm of Xittel, will remain an independent entity and continue to pursue its mission.