Louis Audet to resign as Cogeco CEO

MONTREAL — Louis Audet is stepping aside as president and CEO of the Cogeco cable and broadcasting companies founded by his family, and will be replaced on Sept. 1 by Philippe Jette, who has been president of an affiliated company.

Audet — who has been chief executive officer of the two Cogeco publicly-traded companies for about 25 years — will become executive chairman of the board for both Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Communications Inc.

His successor has been president of Cogeco Peer 1, which operates computer centres. Prior to that, Jette was Cogeco’s chief technology and strategy officer after joining the Montreal-based companies in 2011.

Analyst Aravinda Galappatthige wrote in a research note that having a non-family member as Cogeco’s chief executive may reignite speculation that Cogeco could be a takeover target for Rogers Communications Inc.

Rogers has held a sizable minority stake in Cogeco for many years but Audet has repeatedly stated he and his family intended to retain control of the company, which has one of Canada’s fourth-largest cable operations after Rogers, Shaw Communications Inc. and Quebecor’s Videotron.

“We do not believe that a sale of the business is imminent,” Galappatthige said.

Audet will continue to play an executive role in major issues while supporting Jette in his transition to chief executive officer of the Cogeco group, which is publicly traded but controlled by the founding family.