Audet Family Rebuffs Increased Altice USA Bid for Cogeco

By Colin Kellaher

Altice USA Inc. raised its offer to buy Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Communications Inc. to about 11.1 billion Canadian dollars (US$8.4 billion), but the family that controls the telecommunications companies once again said it isn't interested in selling.

Altice, which covets Cogeco's U.S. unit Atlantic Broadband, previously bid about C$10.1 billion for the companies, with plans to sell Cogeco's Canadian businesses to Rogers Communications Inc.

However, Gestion Audem, the Audet family holding company that holds 69% of the voting rights of Cogeco, which in turn controls 82.9% Cogeco Communications' voting rights, rejected the new proposal.

"Since this is apparently not registering with Rogers and Altice, we repeat today that this is not a negotiating strategy, but a definitive refusal," said Louis Audet, who is president of Gestion Audem and serves as executive chairman of both Cogeco and Cogeco Communications. "We are not interested in selling our shares."

Altice, based in Long Island City, N.Y., said it will pull the revised bid if can't reach an agreement or, "at the very least, it does not see a clear path forward to completion of a transaction" by Nov. 18.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 19, 2020 06:37 ET (10:37 GMT)

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