MONTREAL – Videotron Ltd. has announced the pricing of its new issuance of C$375.0 million aggregate principal amount of 5.75% senior notes due in 2026.
The new senior notes will be sold at par, will carry a coupon of 5.75% and will mature on January 15, 2026. Videotron said that it intends to use the proceeds of this offering to partially repay the amounts outstanding under its senior credit facilities and to pay transaction fees and expenses.
"To successfully complete this transaction with a favourable pricing during this period of extreme volatility in the capital markets confirms the strength of the company's…
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MONTRÉAL – Quebecor is spending $500 million to reduce the share of Quebecor Media held by provincial pension fund manager Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ).
The companies said Wednesday that Quebecor has purchased for cancellation 7.27 million common shares of Quebecor Media held by Capital d'Amérique Investissements, a wholly owned subsidiary of CDPQ, amounting to approximately 28.6% of CDPQ's interest. Following the transaction, CDPQ will hold a 18.93% interest (approximately 18.2 million common shares) of Quebecor Media.
Quebecor added that the $500 million cash purchase price will be financed by accessing debt-capital markets.
"This transaction continues the process announced…
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OTTAWA – It’s rare when the incumbent wireless carriers and the new entrants find themselves on the same side of an issue, but the response to a Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC) appeal of the CRTC’s wholesale wireless decision last month is one of those occasions where the normally combative firms see eye to eye.
CNOC has appealed portions Telecom Regulatory Policy 2015-177, saying the Commission erred in fact and made errors of law in not granting mandated mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) access to the radio access networks (RANs) of the wireless carriers. The second…
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MONTREAL – Quebecor Media’s Vidéotron announced it as a first in Canada on Thursday, but its plan to exempt music streaming from mobile data caps has already raised alarms from net neutrality activists and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre.
The Quebec mobile provider announced Thursday morning its Unlimited Music service, which exempts a series of streaming services (Stingray, Rdio, Google Play, Deezer and Spotify) from counting toward mobile data usage for customers with Canada-wide plans with at least 2GB data (a plan that costs about $65/month).
But the company argues this move doesn't go against CRTC regulations because it doesn't offer…
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MONTREAL – Gérard Oury's irresistible comedy La Folie des Grandeurs (1971) will open the 2015 edition of Quebecor’s Éléphant ClassiQ film festival in November.
Coinciding with the 120th anniversary of the Gaumont studio, current president Nicolas Seydoux and director Danièle Thompson, co-screenwriter of La Folie des Grandeurs and the daughter of director Gérard Oury, will introduce the film.
In addition, the world premiere of the newly restored version of Michel Brault's Entre la mer et l'eau douce (1967), will be shown and cast members including Geneviève Bujold, Claude Gauthier, Robert Charlebois, Louise Latraverse and Denise Bombardier will be present.
Éléphant ClassiQ, a…
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MONTREAL – Videotron CEO Manon Brouillette said Tuesday that “it’s our job to be there at each wave” of technological evolution. And that mindset is a big reason why Videotron is the first TV provider in Canada to offer an Ultra High Definition PVR.
The new terminal, unveiled Tuesday, will be available in stores by late August or early September for $399, the same price as the company’s existing high-end PVR, the eight-tuner X8. Manufactured by Samsung, the UHD PVR is capable of receiving UHD signals of 3840 by 2160 pixels plus has eight tuners, of which two can record…
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MONTREAL — Strong performance by Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron subsidiary helped to drive up the parent company’s overall revenues in the second quarter of 2015. However, Quebecor’s adjusted operating income fell slightly compared to the same quarter in 2014, partly due to investments made by Quebecor Media to develop the TVA Sports specialty channel.
Quebecor’s revenues for the second quarter of 2015 were $960.9 million, an increase of $67.9 million (7.6%) compared with the same period in 2014. The company’s adjusted operating income for the second quarter was $349.3 million, down $10.6 million (-2.9%) compared to the second quarter of 2014.
On…
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MONTREAL — TVA Group, a subsidiary of Quebecor Media, reported Tuesday it recorded a net loss attributable to shareholders of $2.6 million, or $0.06 loss per share, for the second quarter of 2015. This compares to a net income attributable to shareholders of $9.2 million, or $0.39 earnings per share, in the same quarter of 2014.
The biggest contributing factor to TVA Group’s second-quarter loss was a 97% decline in the operating income of its Broadcasting & Production segment, which reported a $535,000 adjusted operating income in the three-month period ending June 30, as compared to an $18 million adjusted…
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MONTREAL – Quebecor Media subsidiary Quebecor Content has struck a long-term multiplatform agreement with Sony Pictures Television Canada that will see a number of big titles added to TVA Group's channels and Videotron's SVOD platform Club illico.
The content includes French-language versions of series including La liste noire (The Blacklist, pictured), and Nuits Blanches À L'Urgence (The Night Shift) plus films White House Down, The Smurfs 2, Grown Ups 2, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 and The Equalizer.
"This agreement shows Sony's appreciation of our strength as a multiplatform broadcaster", said Quebecor Content VP acquisitions…
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MONTREAL – Could Vidéotron be forced to refund cash to its TV subscribers for failing to give them proper community access television?
A grassroots community TV group that got the CRTC to declare Videotron’s MAtv community channel non-compliant with regulations has filed a class action lawsuit against the company on behalf of all subscribers in the greater Montreal area. The group is seeking a refund of part of the two per cent of gross revenues that are redirected to MAtv for greater Montreal over the past three years (roughly $4 total per subscriber), plus moral and punitive damages of $2…
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