MONTREAL, Sept. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Cogeco Inc.
(TSX: CGO) and Cogeco Communications Inc. (TSX: CCA) today
released the following letter to Rogers Communications Inc.
and Altice USA Inc. in response to their letter received on
September 15th.
Following is the full text of the letter that was sent
today. A link to the letter received from Rogers Communications
Inc. and Altice USA Inc. can be
found at the end.
September 16, 2020
Joe Natale, President &
CEO
Rogers Communications Inc.
333 Bloor Street East, 10th Floor,
Toronto, Ontario M4W 1G9,
Canada
Dexter Goei, CEO
Altice USA Inc.
1 Court Square West, Long Island City, NY 11101
Dear Messrs. Natale and Goei,
The Boards of Directors of Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Communications
Inc. met today to review and consider your letter dated
September 15, 2020, in which you make
untrue statements and unsubstantiated allegations against them. As
stated in our press release of September 2,
2020, after receiving your unsolicited, non-binding
proposal, late in the afternoon on September
1, 2020, the independent members of both Boards of Directors
met promptly on September 2, 2020 to discuss your proposal.
Prior to those discussions, Mr. Audet met with the independent directors as a
representative of the Audet
family, provided absolute clarity regarding the intentions of the
family, indicated that their shares were not for sale and confirmed
that their position was not a negotiating tactic.
As you have both acknowledged on many occasions since commencing
your unsolicited proposal, including in your initial press release
and Mr. Goei's interview on CNBC, the support of the Audet family is necessary to complete a
transaction. We assume that you know this because you each run
a family-controlled company.
From the outset, you have engaged in bad faith tactics, some of
which created confusion in the market. Your proposal of
September 1, 2020 offered to respond
to any questions we may have and concluded by stating that you
looked forward to our response. However, minutes before the
open of markets the following morning, without any warning and
thereby depriving us of an opportunity to respond, you publicly
announced your proposal in which you said that the support of the
Audet family was necessary to
complete a transaction, yet you failed to disclose that they had
rejected your proposal the prior evening. We can only surmise that
this was done with a view to misleading investors and increasing
the stock price in an attempt to put pressure on the family to
sell.
We are fully confident our process was proper, and that we have
given this matter the due care and attention that it deserves. We
will not engage in a futile exercise aimed at
diverting the attention of management and key resources from our
business operations while creating friction among our stakeholders.
Cogeco will focus on what matters - executing on our growth
strategy, investing in our North American broadband and media
platforms, including the previously announced $1 billion broadband investment in Canada over four years, and forging ahead with
our mobile services expansion plan to provide more choice to
customers.
On behalf of the Boards of Directors of Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco
Communications Inc.,
James C. Cherry
Lead Director of the Boards of Directors of Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco
Communications Inc.
Link to the letter received from Rogers Communications Inc.
and Altice USA Inc.
ABOUT COGECO INC.
Cogeco Inc. is a diversified holding
corporation which operates in the communications and media sectors.
Its Cogeco Communications Inc. subsidiary provides residential and
business customers with Internet, video and telephony services
through its two-way broadband fibre networks, operating in Québec
and Ontario, Canada, under the
Cogeco Connexion name, and in the
United States under the Atlantic Broadband brand (in 11
states along the East Coast, from Maine to Florida). Its Cogeco Media subsidiary owns and
operates 23 radio stations with complementary radio formats and
extensive coverage serving a wide range of audiences mainly across
the province of Québec, as well as Cogeco News, a news agency.
Cogeco's subordinate voting shares are listed on the Toronto Stock
Exchange (TSX: CGO). The subordinate voting shares of Cogeco
Communications Inc. are also listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange
(TSX: CCA).
ABOUT COGECO COMMUNICATIONS INC.
Cogeco Communications
Inc. is a communications corporation. It is the 8th largest cable
operator in North America,
operating in Canada under the
Cogeco Connexion name in Québec and Ontario, and along the East Coast of
the United States under the
Atlantic Broadband brand (in 11 states from Maine to Florida). The Corporation provides residential
and business customers with Internet, video and telephony services
through its two-way broadband fibre networks. Cogeco Communications
Inc.'s subordinate voting shares are listed on the Toronto Stock
Exchange (TSX: CCA).
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SOURCE Cogeco Inc.
