MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable has officially sold off its flagging Portuguese subsidiary Cabovisao – Televisao por Cabo, S.A. to the European Group ALTICE for EUR45 million (approximately $59.3 million).
Cogeco, which announced both the sale and the closing of the transaction on Wednesday, said that the sale price may be subject to adjustments for “certain contingent claims”.
The deal puts to rest speculation that Cogeco was seeking to unload Cabovisao after completely writing off its investment in the company in the third quarter of 2011, amid a net loss of more than $56 million.
Cogeco originally bought Cabovisao for $658 million in 2006 from fellow Canadian operator Cable Satisfaction International Inc. At that time, president and CEO Louis Audet optimistically described the deal as a significant step in the company’s strategy for growth, but Cabovisao struggled with subscriber losses amid the European debt crisis.
