Cogeco's top investor rejects $8.4 bln revised bid from Altice USA (updated)

COGECO

19/10/2020 02:00

(Adds rejection of offer by Cogeco's top investor)
    Oct 18 (Reuters) - Altice USA Inc's  ATUS.N  C$11.1 billion
($8.43 billion) revised offer to acquire Cogeco  CGO.TO  was
rejected on Sunday by the Canadian cable company's top investor,
the Audet family.
    Altice USA Inc said it had sweetened its unsolicited offer
to acquire Cogeco by adding a premium for shares held by the
Audet family, which had rejected the previous offer.
     "As we did on September 2nd, 2020, following the
announcement of their first unsolicited proposal, members of the
Audet family unanimously reject this further proposal," Louis
Audet, president of Gestion Audem said in a statement. "We
repeat today that this is not a negotiating strategy, but a
definitive refusal. We are not interested in selling our
shares."
     Gestion Audem is the holding company of the Audet family
that holds 69% of the voting share of Cogeco.
    Altice offered C$11.1 billion to acquire Cogeco, up from the
C$10.3 billion bid that was rejected by the Audet family last
month. 
    New York-based Altice said the revised offer included C$900
million to the Audet family for their ownership interests, from
C$800 million previously.
    It also revised its offer to Cogeco's second-largest
shareholder, Rogers Communications Inc  RCIb.TO , to sell it all
of Cogeco's Canadian assets for C$5.2 billion.
    Upon completion of the overall transaction, Altice USA would
own all the U.S. assets of Cogeco and Rogers would own the
Canadian assets, Altice said in a statement.
    Altice said it would withdraw its revised offer if a deal
was not reached by Nov. 18.
   ($1 = 1.3173 Canadian dollars)

 (Reporting by Sabahatjahan Contractor in Bengaluru; Editing by
Stephen Coates and Lincoln Feast.)
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