Gabelli Fund Keeps Rogers Communications Stake as RCI Buys Rest of MLSE for C$4.35 Billion

Insider Monkey··CA·Read original
2▲1 ▼0Impact / 5
Summary · why it matters

Gabelli Global Rising Income and Dividend Fund kept Rogers Communications Inc. as a holding and used its second-quarter 2026 investor letter to explain the position, noting that in July 2026 Rogers agreed to buy the remaining 25% stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment from Kilmer Sports for C$4.35 billion, lifting its interest in the entity to 100%. The fund said Rogers owns the largest wireless operator and the largest cable multiple service operator in Canada, plus a media business focused on sports and regional TV and radio, including the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club and a controlling interest in MLSE, whose teams include the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors and Toronto FC. Rogers is focused on unlocking value from its sports portfolio, with next steps likely to include combining all sports and media assets into a single organization and selling a sizeable minority interest in that entity to institutional investors. The fund returned 5.78% in the second quarter of 2026, trailing the MSCI World Index, which gained 13.90%, and had $73.1 million in net assets at the end of the quarter. Rogers shares traded between $31.38 and $41.14 over the last 52 weeks and closed at approximately $34.41 on September 22, 2026, giving the company a market capitalization of about $18.68 billion. Twenty-two hedge fund portfolios held Rogers at the end of the first quarter, compared with 25 in the previous quarter.

Impact on assets 1

Cloud & Digital Infrastructure▲ · 1 stocks
Rogers Communications Inc
RCI
▲ PositiveCapitalrelevance

Rogers agreed to buy the remaining 25% of MLSE for C$4.35 billion, completing full ownership and enabling a sports/media consolidation and minority-stake sale.

Off-coverage companies 3

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment LtdPrivate± Mixed
Capitalrelevance

Rogers is acquiring the remaining 25% of MLSE, taking its ownership to 100% and potentially folding it into a combined sports/media entity.

Kilmer Sports IncPrivate± Mixed
Capitalrelevance

Kilmer Sports is the seller of its 25% MLSE stake to Rogers for C$4.35 billion, a transaction of unclear net benefit.

Toronto Blue JaysPrivate± Mixed
relevance

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