MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES INC. $33.27 - Toronto symbol MBT

MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES INC. $33.27 (Toronto symbol MBT; Shares outstanding: 79.3 million; Market cap: $2.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 3.9%; www.mts.ca) has completed the sale of its Allstream division to U.S.-based Zayo Group (New York symbol ZAYO).

Manitoba Tel received $420.0 million, net of transaction costs, for Allstream. The company will use $200.0 million to buy back roughly 8% of its outstanding shares. It will put a further $190.0 million toward its total debt of $1.1 billion. That stands at 44% of its market cap. The company will hang on to the remaining $30.0 million for now.

Manitoba Tel recently cut its dividend by 23.5%; the new annual rate of $1.30 a share yields 3.9%.

Manitoba Telecom is still a hold.

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