Canadian cableco Cogeco Cable has sold its Portuguese subsidiary, cable operator Cabovisao, to European investment group Altice for €45m (US$60m).
Cogeco said in a statement that the transaction closed yesterday. The cableco added that the agreed sale…
Canadian cableco Cogeco Cable has sold its Portuguese subsidiary, cable operator Cabovisao, to European investment group Altice for €45m (US$60m).
Cogeco said in a statement that the transaction closed yesterday. The cableco added that the agreed sale price of €45m could still be adjusted for “certain contingent claims”.
Cabovisao has struggled amid the economic crisis in Portugal.
The sale price is a huge drop on the €465.7m that Cogeco Cable paid for the business in 2006.
The company’s CEO, Louis Audet, said at the time that the acquisition would allow Cogeco to “take part in the development of the cable telecommunications sector in Europe”.
But after this sale, the company has effectively withdrawn from the European market.
A spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment.
Canadian newspaper Globe & Mail reported that Audet had said in an interview yesterday that Cogeco does not have intentions to acquire new companies in Europe.
Audet also reportedly suggested that the company would use the money from the Cabovisao sale to reduce debt.
Cogeco Cable is the cable subsidiary of Canadian communications group Cogeco, Inc.