What to do with your Manitoba Tel shares

Article Excerpt

MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES INC. $39 (Toronto symbol MBT; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 74.3 million; Market cap: $2.9 billion; Priceto- sales ratio: 2.9; Dividend suspended in July 2016; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.mts.ca) paid its last dividend of $0.325 a share on July 15, 2016, as part of its takeover deal with BCE. Under the terms of the BCE offer, shareholders can choose either $40.00 a share in cash, or 0.6756 of a BCE share. However, BCE will cap the amount of cash it will pay, so most will get 45% in cash and 55% in stock. When you receive the formal offer, you should select the all-stock option. That’s currently worth $42.56 per share, compared to the $40.00 all-cash option. Investors can defer capital gain taxes on the stock portion they receive. However, if BCE already accounts for a large portion of your portfolio, you should opt for the cash. cash…