TORONTO — Of all of the Canadian media companies some believe has the wherewithal to expand to the U.S. in some way, shape or form, Rogers Sports & Media is one of the entities that could pony up the Loonies and Twonies and convert them to greenbacks.
That’s not about to happen anytime soon, as it’s had its sights set on further expansion in Canada. Alas, a much-scrutinized deal that involves the owner of radio stations in Canada — and the Atlantic Broadband MVPD in the U.S. — won’t be had.
The company Rogers parent Rogers Communications wanted to merge with rebuffed its unsolicited bids. Now, the multi-billion dollar offer has expired.
As reported by Bloomberg, Rogers’ $8.4 billion CDN merger offer with Cogeco is no more, with the time limit for acceptance now passed.
It was a hostile takeover plan, and it also involved Altice USA.
A non-requested, non-binding proposal from that entity, the parent of digital-first news network Cheddar and MVPDs Suddenlink and Optimum, in early September teamed Rogers in seeking to acquire Cogeco.
In addition to Atlantic Broadband, Cogeco owns 23 radio stations in Quebec and Ontario, including CKBE “92.5 The Beat” in Montréal.
At no point did Cogeco express any interest in the unsolicited bid, which was revised by Rogers in a second attempt to woo their leadership.
However, the grand plan still saw all of the Canadian assets of Cogeco spun to the largest long-term shareholder of Cogeco: grandfathered media colossus Rogers.
The deal for Rogers was perfect. With 54 radio stations across Canada, it has one big glaring hole, as it owns no radio stations in Québec outright, with British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia its audio locales. Its Toronto stations include CHFI-FM, the heritage Adult Contemporary station; CHR/Pop “Kiss 92-5,” all-News CFTR-AM and Sports Talk “590 The Fan.”
The Cogeco properties include four major Montréal FMs: English-language Hot AC “The Beat,” one of the highest-rated radio stations on the continent; heritage French-language Top 40 CKOI-FM, French AC “Rythme 105.7,” and major French News/Talk CHMP-FM 98.5. Cogeco also owns two FMs in Quebec City, and six smaller cities.
“We’re disappointed that we didn’t get the ability to engage with either the Audet family or the Cogeco boards on what is a terrific offer, a highly valued offer,” Rogers President/CEO Joe Natale said Wednesday. But, he said expansion in Quebec remains a priority.
Natale has been President/CEO since April 2017 and came on board following a 12-year run at Telus, serving as its chief executive from May 2014-August 2015.
Reporting by Carina Newton in Toronto and Adam R Jacobson in Boca Raton, Fla.
