Rogers selling data centres to pay for Shaw

Chief financial officer says slowdown in real estate market could hamper sales

- RITIKA DUBEY

Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri told analysts he's on the hunt for more efficiencies after the firm reached $1 billion in synergy savings.

Rogers Communications Inc. is listing its data centres for sale in an effort to raise a billion dollars as the company moves to pay off debt related to the Shaw merger, the company said.

"It's true," CFO Glenn Brandt told analysts on the company's first-quarter earnings call on Wednesday. "We are looking at raising a billion dollars in asset sales, predominantly (from) real estate."

He added the decision to sell the company's enterprise data centres, which focus on third-party sales, will not affect its wireless services as they are managed separately. The company did not confirm how many of its 12 Canadian data centres would be sold.