MONTREAL — Cogeco Inc. today announced Michel Lorrain (above, left) is departing as president of its radio subsidiary, Cogeco Media, to pursue personal interests.
A recruitment process for his successor has been launched and, in the meantime, Richard Lachance (right) will assume the position of interim president. Lachance is currently a special advisor to Cogeco and the former president of Cogeco Media (2013-2018).
“On behalf of my colleagues and the entire Cogeco team, I wish to thank Michel for his 13 years of dedication to the company, his numerous contributions and his leadership,” said Philippe Jetté, president and CEO of Cogeco Inc….
Continue Reading
MONTREAL — Cogeco Communications today announced its Cogeco Connexion subsidiary has completed its acquisition of rural telecom service provider DeryTelecom, once the third-largest cable operator in the province of Quebec.
When the acquisition was announced in October, Cogeco pegged the purchase price at $405 million. With the close of the transaction, Cogeco Connexion expands to more than 200 municipalities in Quebec, including in the Estrie, Lanaudière, Montérégie and Laurentians regions, adding approximately 100,000 customers.
In the short term, DeryTelecom will continue to operate under its current name and trademark, says Cogeco’s press release announcing the acqusition has been finalized.
“We…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL — Cogeco and Cogeco Communications today announced the appointment of Zouheir Mansourati (above) as senior vice-president and chief technology officer for both companies, effective immediately.
“Zouheir’s years of experience in telecommunications combined with his drive, leadership and collaboration skills make him an ideal candidate for this highly strategic role at Cogeco,” said Philippe Jetté, president and CEO of Cogeco and Cogeco Communications, in a press release announcing Mansourati’s hiring. “In this role, he will further Cogeco’s technology and innovation strategy from vision to execution, and lead our plans for emerging technologies. I am excited to have him join…
Continue Reading
TORONTO – While he didn’t directly address the now-expired hostile bid to purchase the company he just joined, Cogeco Connexion president Frédéric Perron (pictured in a screen cap) did use his first speech to the industry to send a message: “We’re here to stay… and we’re here to grow.”
During a Tuesday keynote to online delegates of the 19th annual Canadian Telecom Summit, Perron (a Canadian with a long background of telecom experience in Europe) noted the company likes to say “that we’re one of the well kept secrets in the industry, at least up to recently,” and he…
Continue Reading
Companies say they won’t pursue the acquisition further
TORONTO and NEW YORK — The joint Altice USA-Rogers Communications months-long pursuit of Cogeco and Cogeco Communications has come to an end, with the companies’ second acquisition offer expiring today and both Altice and Rogers saying they won’t pursue the matter further.
In an email statement sent to Cartt.ca, an Altice spokesperson said: “Our offer to acquire Cogeco in order to own Atlantic Broadband has expired and we do not intend to extend it. We remain committed to our growth strategy and continue to focus on opportunities to drive value for our…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – In a LinkedIn post on Wednesday, Cogeco Inc. announced it hired Paul Beaudry (above) as its new vice-president, regulatory affairs.
He will be succeeding Nathalie Dorval, “who is beginning a well-earned retirement,” reads the LinkedIn post. “We are sending our best wishes to Nathalie, who will remain in her position until November 27th.”
Beaudry, a lawyer, who has been based in Calgary as director of broadband policy and regulatory affairs with Telus and before that as director of development at the school of public policy, will be joining Cogeco in Montreal in the new year, he said on LinkedIn.
Continue Reading
ESSEX COUNTY – Several small communities outside of Windsor, Ontario, will start to see better broadband next year.
Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) on Friday announced it has awarded contracts to expand broadband services to 5,173 households and businesses across 20 communities in Essex County, including Essex, Kingsville, Leamington and Lakeshore. Construction is to be fully completed by fall of 2022.
SWIFT awarded $8.5 million in federal and provincial funding to Cogeco and TekSavvy, but in total, Essex County will receive $19 million in broadband upgrades, which includes more than $10.5 million in contributions from the two ISPs for five fibre-to-the-home…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – While recent news swirling around the company has been about other things, Cogeco Inc. posted good fourth quarter and year-end 2020 results as broadband demand remained high in Canada and the U.S.
For the quarter ended August 31, 2020, revenue increased by 2.2% over Q4 2019 to reach $624.2 million while adjusted EBITDA reached $300 million, an increase of 6.7%. Cogeco Inc. contains Cogeco Communications (Cogeco Connexion in Canada and Atlantic Broadband in the States) as well as the company’s Quebec radio stations.
Full year revenue came in at $2.48 billion, a 1.4% increase over 2019 and…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL –- Cogeco Communications announced this morning it will purchase rural cable/telco/ISP DeryTelecom for $405 million.
Based in Saguenay, DeryTelecom offers internet, television, and telephony services to approximately 100,000 customers in over 200 municipalities across several regions in Quebec, including Estrie, Lanaudière, Montérégie and the Laurentians. Revenue and adjusted EBITDA for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020 are estimated to be $105 million and $44 million, respectively, reads the Cogeco press release.
Cartt.ca featured the company in 2017. It was established by Gilles Déry, a TV salesman, in 1954. Back then, over-the-air TV reception wasn’t very good in…
Continue Reading
MONTREAL – Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Communications Inc. announced today their boards of directors “have unanimously rejected the revised unsolicited, non-binding proposal from Altice USA, Inc. of New York and Rogers Communications Inc. of Toronto.”
The companies’ statement says the boards met early on Tuesday to consider the purchase offer and Louis Audet, who is the executive chair of both boards and the representative of the controlling shareholder Audet family, formally confirmed “the publicly stated unanimous position of the Audet family as set out in its press release dated October 18, 2020.
“Following separate deliberations of the independent board…
Continue Reading
