Though Cogeco's board rejected Altice and Rogers' bid (see here and 2009020055), the two said Thursday they "strongly believe that we presented a very attractive offer -- one that would reward all Cogeco shareholders with a significant premium -- and we stand by that offer." They "remain committed to pursuing this transaction and are open to engaging with shareholders and the boards in a constructive dialogue.”
The family that controls Canadian cable ISP Cogeco rejected Altice and Rogers Communications' bid. Cogeco said Wednesday that Gestion Audem, a company controlled by Audet family members with majority voting rights in Cogeco, rejected the unsolicited takeover. The $7.8 billion offer for Cogeco's shares "is very attractive and in the best interest of all shareholders, and we look forward to hearing from the Board," Altice emailed. Under the proposed deal announced Wednesday, Altice would buy Cogeco and sell its Canadian assets to Rogers, leaving Altice with Atlantic Broadband. Altice said the deal would expand its East Coast footprint in 11 states adjacent to its existing Optimum and Suddenlink territories. New Street Research's Jonathan Chaplin emailed investors that the Audet family has resisted offers in the past and their support "is essential."
Intelsat expects to close its $400 million buy of Gogo's commercial aviation connectivity business in Q1, it said Monday. It said the deal will expand its footprint in commercial in-flight connectivity by pairing its satellite and ground network with Gogo's installed base of more than 3,000 commercial aircraft. "Consumer demand for in-flight connectivity is expected to grow at a double-digit rate over the next decade, notwithstanding the impact of COVID-19," said Intelsat. Gogo took a "devastating" Q2 financial hit from the pandemic, said CEO Oakleigh Thorne on a recent investor call (see 2008100010): "If you sell internet on an airplane and no one’s on the plane, it’s tough to make a living.” Intelsat said it will use cash and debtor-in-possession financing from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization for the deal.
AT&T would "be better off without the albatross that is DirecTV," but the likelihood of such a deal is slim due to the rapid decline in DirecTV's subscriber base -- 18% year over year -- and its earnings, which make it tough for a potential buyer to see a reasonable return, MoffettNathanson's Craig Moffett emailed Monday. That followed a report that AT&T is exploring a sale. The telco didn't comment. DirecTV's combining with Dish Network and the resulting synergies between the two are of limited help, and regulatory approval would take a year or longer, Moffett said.
Japanese petroleum, oil and metals conglomerate Eneos bought a stake in Ossia, said the wireless power company Monday: They will work together to explore wireless power opportunities in Japan and Asia. Eneos launched a venture capital company in October.
Google’s proposed buy of Fitbit “is about devices, not data,” blogged Rick Osterloh, Google senior vice president-devices and services Tuesday. It would “increase choice, and create engaging products and helpful experiences,” said Osterloh of the deal announced in November (see 1911010051). The European Commission is concerned it would further entrench Google's market position in online advertising “by increasing the already vast amount of data that Google could use” for targeted ads, it said. EU Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager said European consumers’ wearables use is expected to grow, along with data that provides “key insights” about their health. It wants to ensure Google’s control over data collected through wearables due to the transaction “does not distort competition.” Osterloh said Google doesn’t make or sell wearables that compete with smartwatches and fitness trackers from Apple, Samsung, Garmin, Fossil, Huawei and Xiaomi: the combination of Google and Fitbit's hardware efforts "will increase competition in the sector, making the next generation of devices better and more affordable." Google has been "clear from the beginning that we will not use Fitbit health and wellness data for Google ads,” said the executive, noting the company recently offered to make a legally binding commitment. “We will give Fitbit users the choice to review, move or delete their data.”
Dish Network picked network services provider Tucows as a “technology partner” for its retail wireless business, said the companies Monday. Most U.S. Ting Mobile subscribers became Dish customers Saturday. Tucows positioned Ting for “easy to use services” and “simple value pricing,” said a March 4 annual report. Tucows finished 2019 with 289,000 Ting customers, down from 296,000 in 2018, it said. Dish said the agreement will speed its “digital and operational capabilities in wireless.” Transferring the Ting Mobile subs to Dish frees Tucows to focus on its mobile services enabler business of which Dish becomes the first customer. The Boost acquisition from Sprint thrust Dish “into the retail business in a way we didn’t expect,” said Chairman Charlie Ergen on a recent investor call (see 2005070049).
The sale of 49.99% of Altice's Lightpath fiber business to a Morgan Stanley investment fund is expected to conclude in Q4, the cable ISP said Tuesday evening. Altice said it will receive $2.3 billion in cash and will remain in control of the company. It said the investment will help pay for Lightpath growth and improved performance.
MaxLinear’s connected home business generated 45% of Q2 revenue that grew 5% sequentially from Q1 to $65.2 million, said CEO Kishore Seendripu on a Thursday evening investor call. The company supplies broadband communications semiconductors. “We are benefiting from the demand for greater bandwidth at home in a transformative work-from-home environment that we believe is an emerging long-term trend,” said Seendripu. MaxLinear expects its $150 million all-cash buy of Intel’s home gateway business, announced April 6, will close this quarter, he said. The acquisition will more than double its total addressable market to $5 billion, he said. “The rapidly expanding work-from-home mandates due to COVID-19 are driving bandwidth upgrades, which will strongly benefit our core connected home business as well as our companion Intel connected home division acquisitions.”
Hewlett Packard Enterprise is buying Silver Peak for $925 million to extend its reach in the software defined wide area network (SD-WAN) space, said HPE Monday. The purchase will speed HPE's edge-to-cloud strategy, said CEO Antonio Neri. Raymond James analyst Simon Leopold said the purchase makes sense for HPE to play in the developing SD-WAN market, but called the price “high.” Cisco leads the SD-WAN market with about 17% share, said Leopold, but analysts don’t agree on rankings after that in what he called a fragmented and immature market that also includes Fortinet and Versa Networks. The deal is expected to close in fiscal Q4 ending Oct. 30. Shares closed 2% higher Monday at $9.44.