The battle for BCE has become more intense as a consortium including the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Providence Equity Partners has entered privatization talks.
Teachers’ is the telecom company’s largest shareholder. Yesterday , the plan announced it increased its stake in BCE to 6.3%.
Providence has invested in a number of telecom and media companies over the years, including AT&T Canada(now Allstream), Craig Media(currently owned by CHUM), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer(MGM), and VoiceStream Wireless(now T-Mobile).
BCE is also in privatization discussions with groups led by the and Cerberus Capital Management .
The company previously announced its intention to review all strategic alternatives with a view to further enhance shareholder value. The review is currently expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2007.
To comment on this story email craig.sebastiano@rci.rogers.com.