On September 2, 2020, Rogers and Altice entered into an agreement in an attempt to acquire/purchase assets from Cogeco (one of Canada’s largest telco’s). The deal would have seen Rogers and Altice potentially shake up the Canadian Cable service market.

Twice over, the Cogeco Board of directors, have rejected the deal from Rogers & Altice. The Audet family, which has a controlling stake in Cogeco through the holding company Gestion Audem, made it clear that a takeover bid from the two arguably rivals was unwanted:

Following separate deliberations of the independent board members supported by independent legal counsel, taking into account the stated position of the Audet family, the boards rejected the revised unsolicited, non-binding proposal and will not engage with Altice and Rogers
Cogeco’s Board of Directors, Newswire, Oct 20, 2020

While some may look at this having been a potential “way out” for the Audet family, it’s clear the company isn’t looking to hand in the towel just yet. Cogeco, which is facing increased competition in various markets in Ontario, continues to try to compete with its fiber-to-the-node service against rival services from the likes of Bell Fibe.

Altice has stated that if no agreement is reached by November 18th, 2020 that the company will withdraw its offer.