French Canadian quad-play operator Videotron has acquired local B2B fibre provider Fibrenoire for C$125m (US$88m), buying it from its founding shareholders and private equity firm Novacap TMT.
French Canadian quad-play operator Videotron has acquired local B2B fibre provider Fibrenoire for C$125m (US$88m), buying it from its founding shareholders and private equity firm Novacap TMT.
Montréal-based Fibrenoire, which will become an independent subsidiary of Videotron, has a staff of 60. The founding owners – president Benjamin Desmarais, sales chief Rémi Fournier and CTO Jean-François Lévesque – will remain in their current roles.
Videotron CEO Manon Brouillette said: “This transaction will strengthen Videotron’s leadership in the business telecom market. Combining our expertise and our distinct but complementary facilities will equip us to continue our growth in the Québec business market.”
Pierre Dion, CEO of Videotron parent Quebecor (TSX:QBR.A), said: “Like other recent acquisitions by Quebecor and its subsidiaries, such as Mel’s Studios and Postproduction, the addition of Fibrenoire will increase our presence in growing market segments and further diversify our revenue streams.”
Fibrenoire serves over 1,000 customers in the Montréal, Québec City, Ottawa and Toronto areas with its 4,500km fibre network.
Desmarais said: “Our connection with Videotron will give us access to financial resources, technological depth and a fibre-optic network of more than 30,000 km available across Québec.”
Brouillette said: “We are confident that Fibrenoire will be a good fit, as its highly entrepreneurial culture is very close to our own corporate values.
“This acquisition follows the takeover of 4Degrees in 2015, positioning us to meet growing business needs for cloud computing and connectivity, two highly complementary market segments.”
In September, Videotron priced C$375m of senior unsecured notes to refinance existing debt.
