Quebecor has said it has no plans to sell its cellular towers, going against the trend of Rogers and Telus, which have both struck deals to sell off a large portion of their cell towers across Canada.
CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau stated in the company’s earnings call on Thursday that selling off infrastructure to increase cash flow isn’t part of the company’s plan. “We don’t need to impair our future free cash flows with additional interest costs from Byzantine financial engineering structure,” said Peladeau, according to the The Canadian Press.
Last week, Telus sold off almost half (49.9 per cent) of its cell tower infrastructure (Terrion) to Quebec-based pension fund manager La Caisse for roughly $1.26 billion. This is a common practice in countries like the United States and Europe, noted iPhone in Canada.
Rogers did something similar, selling a $7 billion stake to funds controlled by Blackstone, which was backed by four Canadian pensions, including La Caisse.
Scotiabank Analyst Maher Yaghi said to BNN Bloomberg that he views the strategy in a positive light, noting that it would be more profitable for telecommunications companies to lease access to the towers rather than retain ownership.
Quebecor, the parent company for both Videotron and Fizz, said that the company is on solid footing and has generated enough cash to invest in its infrastructure. The company added 52,000 subscribers within the first three months of the year, although their revenue dipped slightly in Q1 to $1.38 billion.
Source: BNN Bloomberg Via: iPhone in Canada
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