Press release details

Montréal, August 12, 2016 – Cogeco Communications Inc. (TSX: CCA) announces today that Louise St‑Pierre has decided to retire as President and Chief Executive Officer of Cogeco Connexion. Effective September 1, 2016, Ken Smithard, Vice President, Performance, Organizational Efficiency and Information Technology, will become President of Cogeco Connexion. Mrs. St‑Pierre will remain in an advisory role until November 30, 2016, to ensure a smooth leadership transition.

Since joining Cogeco in 1999 as Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Mrs. St‑Pierre has held subsequent roles of increasing responsibility within Cogeco Connexion’s senior management team, eventually being named President and CEO in 2013. During this time, she has demonstrated her enduring ability to engage teams to drive outstanding customer service, ensure operational effectiveness and deliver solid results for shareholders. “On behalf of the Board of Directors and Cogeco Connexion’s more than 2,550 employees, I wish to thank Louise St‑Pierre for her many years of dedication to Cogeco,” said Louis Audet, President and Chief Executive Officer, Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Communications Inc. “Under her leadership, she set an exceptional customer-centric approach that has won Cogeco Connexion many prestigious customer service awards over the past several years. Louise achieved a great deal in her more than 17 years at Cogeco in an industry marked by rapid change and fierce competition, and we wish her the very best in her future endeavours.”

Ken Smithard has also been with Cogeco Connexion since 1999. Through his years with the company, he has moved from Director, Consumer Sales and Marketing to Senior Director positions in Residential Sales, Installation Services, and Service and Warehouse, before moving to Vice President, Performance and Organizational Efficiency in 2012. In his current position, which he has held since 2014, in addition to leading Cogeco Connexion’s strategic planning and processes, he is in charge of delivering many of the organization’s largest transformational projects. This 360-degree view of the company and deep industry knowledge, combined with his strong financial acumen and background, provide him with the capability to develop distinctive strategies to achieve competitive advantage while managing financial performance. “With his extensive and broad experience, collaborative leadership style, and passion for technology, I am confident that Ken is well-placed to follow in Louise’s footsteps, reinforcing Cogeco Connexion’s position as a leading communications and technology company with strong customer relations built on amazing experiences, trust and reliability,” added Mr. Audet.

 

Cogeco Connexion at a glance:

-       Wholly-owned subsidiary of Cogeco Communications Inc.

-       More than 2,550 employees

-       Customer segments: consumer and business

-       Offering: video, high-speed Internet, telephony, fibre-based data and voice transmission, and cloud-based applications for businesses

-       11,000 km of linear optical fibre between Windsor, Ontario, and Gaspé, Québec

-       Hybrid network: optical fibre and coaxial cable

-       More than 25 years of experience with fibre optic networks

-       Internet download speeds provided: up to 250 megabits per second

-       Community television stations: Cogeco TV (22 in Ontario and 15 in Québec, with close to 1,000 volunteers)

 

About Cogeco COMMUNICATIONS INC.

Cogeco Communications Inc. is a communications corporation. It is the 8^th largest cable operator in North America, operating in Canada under the Cogeco Connexion name in Québec and Ontario, and in the United States under the Atlantic Broadband name in western Pennsylvania, south Florida, Maryland/Delaware, South Carolina and eastern Connecticut. Cogeco Communications Inc. provides its residential and business customers with video, Internet and telephony services through its two-way broadband fibre networks. Through its subsidiary Cogeco Peer 1, Cogeco Communications Inc. provides its business customers with a suite of information technology services (colocation, network connectivity, managed hosting, cloud services and managed IT services), through its 17 data centres, extensive FastFiber Network^TM and more than 50 points-of-presence in North America and Europe. Cogeco Communications Inc.’s subordinate voting shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: CCA).

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Information and interview requests:

René Guimond

Senior Vice President, Public Affairs and Communications

Cogeco Inc.

(514) 764-4746

rene.guimond@cogeco.com