BCE Agrees to Landmark LBO

Ontario teachers' retirement fund lines up largest Canadian takeover ever
By Marie Morris,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 1, 2007 10:24 AM CDT
BCE Agrees to Landmark LBO
Bell Canada offices are seen in downtown Montreal in this Oct. 11, 2006, file photo. BCE Inc., Canada's largest telecommunications company, said Saturday it has reached an agreement to be bought by a group led by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan for C$51.7 billion (US$48.5 billion), making it the...   (Associated Press)

Canada's dominant telecom company will go private in the country's biggest takeover ever, and one of the largest LBOs in the world. A powerful teachers' retirement fund and two American private-equity firms made a deal yesterday for CBE, also known as Bell Canada. The $48.5 billion (C$51.7 billion) bid must still clear regulators and shareholders.

Canadian law limits foreign ownership of telecom companies, meaning Providence Equity and Madison Dearborn will be minority partners to the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, already BCE's largest stockholder. The Globe and Mail reports that the consortium beat out a team that included KKR and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board and a collaboration between Cerberus Capital and several Canadian entities. (More Canada stories.)

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