News Analysis   More News Analysis

Bell Canada Denies Takeover Rumors

March 29, 2007 | Raymond McConville | Post a comment
no ratings

Bell Canada is putting down talk that it is looking for a private buyout.

A Canadian newspaper reported this morning that BCE Inc. (Bell Canada) (NYSE/Toronto: BCE) was in talks with private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) about a possible takeover deal.

The reports sent shares of Bell Canada up as high as $29.15 during Tuesday morning trading, just a bit off its 52-week high of $30.02.

Canadian regulations on phone companies would have prevented the New York-based firm from taking a majority stake in the company. KKR was reportedly in talks with the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan as a partner in the deal. The Ontario fund already holds a 5 percent stake in the Canadian communications giant.

The deal, as reported, would be worth approximately $30 billion, which is a 20 percent markup on Bell Canada's $24 billion market cap -- the standard premium typically paid in most mergers and acquisition deals.

KKR could not immediately be reached for comment.

Bell Canada later released a statement saying "there are no ongoing discussions being held with any private equity investor," and there are no plans to "pursue such discussions."

The company's comments have cooled its shares a bit. Shares of Bell Canada were up $1.21 (4.65%) to $27.22 during late morning trading on the NYSE.

— Raymond McConville, Reporter, Light Reading
Newest Comments First       Display in Chronological Order
Be the first to post a comment regarding this story.
LIGHT READING MARKET PLACE
Network Tool Guide
Fix Issues Faster. Choose the Right Portable Network Tools in Our Online Guide.
Used and Refurbished Cisco Switches
Purchase Your Switches From Network Liquidators. Savings of Up to 90% with a Lifetime Warranty!
Free Cell Phones
Get a New Cell Phone or Upgrade for Free. Smart Phones, Blackberries and more.
Want to BUY your Nortel Optical packs
TruePulse pays CASH for your surplus Nortel OM3500, OM5200 & OME6500 cards
Free e-Signature Site
Try it Now - It Only Takes Seconds! Used by Fortune 500 and Worldwide. Send & Sign Documents Online.
The blogs and comments are the opinions only of the writers and do not reflect the views of Light Reading. They are no substitute for your own research and should not be relied upon for trading or any other purpose.
Most Popular
Read
Related Content
White Papers SPONSORED CONTENT
Featured
Podcasts SPONSORED CONTENT
Services Transformation - by Alcatel-Lucent Communications service providers want to be able to bring new services to...
Rural Ops Bridge the Digital Divide - by Tellabs Tellabs helps IOCs build triple play networks
Driving Network Transformation - by Alcatel-Lucent In order to deal with competitive pressures, the change in service models...
Back(haul) to the Future - by Tellabs Tellabs works with Vodafone to meet growing mobile broadband demands.
MRS Logistica - by Tellabs Tellabs helps MRS Logistica transform its existing, largely outdated TDM networks to IP.
Carrier Ethernet Offers an Enterprising Solution - by Tellabs What is VPLS and how does it work? Tellabs takes a closer look.
Swisscom’s Network Makeover - by Tellabs Fresh off the launch of 7.2 Mbps HSDPA, Swisscom sees 3G as an opportunity to launch a unifying ...
Telecom in Namibia - by Tellabs Tellabs helps Telecom Namibia with next-gen challenges
Companies
Alcatel-Lucent (5872), AT&T (1948), BellSouth (848), BT (1287), Cablevision (615), Cisco (5297), Comcast (1910), Cox Communications (858), Deutsche Telekom (807), eBay (Skype) (345), Ericsson (1617), France Telecom (964), Google (489), Huawei (1045), Intel (1127), Juniper (2022), Microsoft (1115), Motorola (1486), Nokia Siemens Networks (2645), Nortel (3956), NTT (173), Siemens (1359), Sprint (1059), Telefonica (439), Time Warner Cable (969), Verizon (2587), Vodafone (510), Yahoo (339)

Broadband
Access equipment (2169), Access technologies (2378), Broadband loop carriers / multiservice access nodes (388), Cable modem termination systems (CMTSs) (1104), Cable TV chips (286), DSL (2425), DSL chips (227), DSLAMs (703), Free-space optics (35), FTTx (3265), Gaming consoles (58), Gaming servers (22), Media adapters (23), Municipal networks (106), PON (1364), PON chips (217), Satellite (497), WiMax (880), Wireless LAN (354)

Cable Digital
Cable Modems (681), Cable/MSO equipment (2802), CableLabs (470), Compression (MPEG-2 and MPEG-4) (279), Docsis (1046), Embedded multimedia terminal adapters (E-MTAs) (213), Head-ends (233), PacketCable (129), QAM (307)

Chips, Components & Subsystems
ASICs & FPGAs (101), ATCA (480), ATM chips (13), Comm chips (2360), Dispersion compensators (149), Lasers (920), Modulators (163), Mux/demuxes (299), Network processors (933), Optical amplifiers (349), Optical channel monitors (92), Optical components (2824), Speciality fiber (94), Switches & OADMs (397), Transceivers (1247), Transmission fiber (419), Variable optical attenuators (139)

Ethernet
10-Gbit/s Ethernet switches (1454), Access devices (272), ATM switches (333), Circuit emulation (16), Converged access (103), Ethernet chips (573), Ethernet equipment (2212), Ethernet over copper (231), Ethernet PONs (160), Ethernet services (1909), Ethernet technologies (568), Multipoint (131), Multiservice edge equipment (143), Multiservice provisioning platforms (622), Multiservice switches (389), PBT (Provider Backbone Transport) (256), Point-to-point (139), Pseudowire (Layer 2 tunnels) (132)

IP & Convergence
B-RASs (229), Cell/WLAN (77), Compression equipment (13), Core routers (1294), DNS (56), Edge routers (1686), ENUM (53), Fixed/Mobile Convergence (485), GMPLS (76), IMS (1088), IMS Control Layer (27), IMS Service Layer (27), IP equipment (1224), IP software (381), IP technologies (1482), IPv6 (99), Layer 3 VPNs (194), MPLS (1774), MPLS (687), Multicast (36), P2P (258), Pseudowire (Layer 2 tunnels) (132), QOS (350), SIP (396), Traffic managers (808), Wireline/Wireless (59)

Mobile/Wireless
3G Evolution (175), Broadcast (Mobile TV, etc.) (189), Carrier WiFi (226), CDMA (3G) (367), Core Network (173), EV-DO (126), Femtocells (30), Fixed Wireless (Microwave, etc.) (71), Fourth Generation (4G) Wireless (70), GSM/EDGE (430), HSDPA/HSUPA (321), IMS Core (47), Long-Term Evolution (LTE) (188), Mobile Advertising (24), Mobile Music (31), Mobile TV (130), Mobile Video (65), Mobile WiMax/WiBro (92), Mobile/Wireless (5877), Packet Core (61), Radio Access Network (236), TD-SCDMA (Chinese 3G) (67), Transmission (38), Ultra-Mobile Broadband (UMB) (8), UMTS(3G) (340), Voice Core (21), WiMax (880), Wireless Backhaul (272), Wireless Chips (191), Wireless LAN (354)

Optical Networking
40-Gbit/s transmission (452), Core optical switches (760), CWDM (289), DWDM (1842), Long-haul WDM equipment (654), Metro optical switches, ROADMs (1173), Metro WDM equipment (773), Multiservice provisioning platforms & add/drop muxes (375), Optical equipment (2191), Optical switches & crossconnects (398), Optical technologies (417), Sonet/SDH (1036), Sonet/SDH chips (351), Wavelength services (305)

Security
Anti-virus (29), Denial-of-service attacks (44), Encryption (97), Endpoint security (22), Firewalls (61), Intrusion detection & prevention (45), IPSec VPN (801), Security (1835), SSL VPN (862), URL filtering (12), User authentication (24)

Services Software
Activation (415), Billing systems (761), Content/software downloads (231), Customer relationship management (231), Data Integrity (61), Element management systems (36), Fault management (69), Inventory management (153), Mediation systems (204), Messaging (231), Middleware (72), Mobile location (41), OSS (2584), Performance monitoring (335), Policy control (269), Provisioning (553), Revenue assurance & fraud management (334), Service delivery platforms (SDPs) (328), Service management (220), Service-oriented architectures (310), Services (2480), Web gateways (56), Web services (124), XML (51)

Test & Measurement (Sponsored by Etaliq Inc)
Access equipment Access test & measurement equipment (126), Comm chips Comm chips test & measurement equipment (29), Ethernet equipment Ethernet test & measurement equipment (170), IP equipment IP test & measurement equipment (122), MPLS MPLS test & measurement equipment (14), Optical components Optical components test & measurement equipment (113), Optical equipment Optical test & measurement equipment (886), OSS OSS test & measurement (1059), Sonet/SDH Sonet/SDH test & measurement equipment (1599), Test & measurement (1755), VOIP equipment VOIP test & measurement equipment (145)

Video (Sponsored by Ericsson Televisionary)
Broadcast (Mobile TV, etc.) (189), Broadcast video equipment (including encoding) (730), Content delivery network (CDN) (394), Content protection (270), DVRs (665), Internet Video (840), IPTV (3461), Middleware & business support systems (845), Set-top boxes (1624), Stored video servers (379), TV (3581), Video equipment (2448), Video services (4130), Video software (1349), Videophone (185), VOD (2635)

VOIP
Application servers (186), Centrex (198), Conferencing (78), Contact centers (38), Enhanced voice (34), Enterprise (637), Media gateways (357), Messaging (73), Presence management (43), Residential (835), Session border controllers (398), Signaling gateways (104), Softswitches (1090), VOIP chips (167), VOIP equipment (3423), VOIP services (3768), VOIP software (620), VOIP VPNs (28), Wholesale (220)