Agreement for the purchase of a portion of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec's interest in Quebecor Media

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Sep 09, 2015, 08:15 ET

MONTRÉAL, Sept. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ - Quebecor Media and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) announced today that they have agreed on the partial purchase of CDPQ's interest in Quebecor Media.

Quebecor Media has purchased for cancellation 7,268,324 common shares of Quebecor Media held by Capital d'Amérique Investissements, a wholly owned subsidiary of CDPQ, amounting to approximately 28.6% of CDPQ's interest prior to closing, for a purchase price of $500 million, to be paid in cash. Quebecor Media intends to finance the transaction by accessing debt-capital markets.

Following the transaction, CDPQ holds 18,170,810 common shares of Quebecor Media, a 18.93% interest.

"This transaction continues the process announced in October 2012, when we introduced a plan to purchase the shares of Quebecor Media held by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec," said Jean-François Pruneau, Chief Financial Officer of Quebecor. "Ownership of all the shares of Quebecor Media by Quebecor remains our long-term goal. This transaction will be financed in accordance with our basic objective of maintaining sound balance sheet management."

"We are continuing to rebalance our portfolio, a process we started in 2012," explained Christian Dubé, Executive Vice-President, Québec of CDPQ. "Following this transaction, we retain a significant stake in Quebecor Media, a company that continues to provide good prospects for value creation."

About Quebecor and Quebecor Media

Quebecor, a Canadian leader in telecommunications, entertainment, news media and culture, is one of the best-performing integrated communications companies in the industry. Driven by their determination to deliver the best possible customer experience, all of Quebecor's subsidiaries and brands are differentiated by their high-quality, multiplatform, convergent products and services.

Quebecor (TSX: QBR.A, QBR.B) is headquartered in Québec. It holds, following the transaction hereinabove announced, a 81.07% interest in Quebecor Media, which employs close to 12,000 people in Canada.

A family business founded in 1950, Quebecor is strongly committed to the community. Every year, it actively supports people working with more than 400 organizations in the vital fields of culture, health, education, the environment and entrepreneurship.

Visit our website: www.quebecor.com

About Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is a long-term institutional investor that manages funds primarily for public and parapublic pension and insurance plans. As at June 30, 2015, it held $240.8 billion in net assets. As one of Canada's leading institutional fund managers, la Caisse, which marks its 50th anniversary this year, invests globally in major financial markets, private equity, infrastructure and real estate. For more information about la Caisse: www.CDPQ.com.

SOURCE Quebecor