MONTREAL – With published reports (including one here) saying that Cogeco is about to expand into Portugal through a major acquisition, CEO Louis Audet said this morning the company has actually looked into eight European expansion opportunities involving 10 countries.
Responding to what he called “rumors and speculation about alleged acquisition plans,” Audet read a prepared statement this morning about the company’s European expansion possibilities. He cautioned against advancing such theories and said he had nothing specific to announce.
“Wild speculation is never a good thing,” said the CEO during his quarterly conference call with financial analysts.
Noting that the Cogeco’s last cable acquisition came in 2001, he said the company is ready for acquisitions, and added he realized the potential for such purchases in Canada are few. He said the company would not take on any undue risk and is looking only at acquisitions of well-clustered, well-run operations in growing economies in Europe.
“We believe this will come eventually,” he said.
To date, Cogeco has taken a look at eight companies in 10 countries, said Audet. However, he declined to name any of them or say how many of the potential targets have been dismissed or are still under review.
As reported by www.cartt.ca last month, reports out of Europe pegged Cogeco as the leading bidder for Portuguese cable operator Cabovisao.
Cabovisao currently offers cable-TV, broadband Internet access and fixed telephony services to over 240,000 residential customers and 12,000 businesses in Portugal. Cabovisao delivers its services to customers on over 13,000 km of optical fiber and coaxial cable. The company employs more than 800 people in Portugal, distributed in 13 regional offices and has its headquarters in Palmela, according to a recent Cabovisao press release.
It’s a profitable, well-clustered, modern cable operation, with a mountain of debt on its shoulders (reportedly about $500 million – or 350 million Euros) that built up as its network was constructed.
Cabovisao parent company Cable Satisfaction International (which was founded by former Videotron executives) is still under bankruptcy protection in Quebec and still trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange’s Venture Exchange. It’s been at either five cents or ten cents a share for a while.
One of CSII’s primary investors during its growth phase was la caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, the huge Quebec pension fund.
Audet says expansion, even beyond Canada, is a natural extension of the company. “We take a long-term view to growth and see no reason why we couldn’t be among the best companies in the world,” he said.
