BCE Completes its Spin Off

Article Excerpt

BCE INC. $26.07 (Toronto symbol BCE; SI Rating: Above-Average) completed its plan of arrangement with ALIANT INC. on July 7, 2006, with an effective date of July 10. BCE shareholders received 0.0725 trust units of BELL ALIANT REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS INCOME FUND (Toronto symbol BA.UN: SI Rating: Extra risk) for each share they owned. They also received 0.915 of a new BCE common share for each old share. Aliant shareholders received one trust unit for each common share they held. If you hold your BCE shares in certificate form and not in a brokerage account, you’ll need to complete and return the forms the company sent to you. BCE intends to continue its $1.32 common share dividend after the spin-off. The new trust will initially pay monthly cash distributions of $0.23 a unit, or $2.74 a year, for a yield of approximately 8.3%. Bell Aliant will be one of North America’s largest regional telecommunications service providers with over 3.4 million local access lines and over…