BCE splits up Glentel

Article Excerpt

BCE INC. $54.40 (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares outstanding: 839.6 million; Market cap: $44.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.5%; www.bce.ca) recently agreed to buy Glentel Inc. (Toronto symbol GLN) for $670 million. Glentel sells mobile phones and subscription plans through 494 Canadian stores, mainly under the Wireless Wave banner. Glentel also has 735 U.S. outlets and 147 in Australia and the Philippines. However, rival wireless carrier Rogers Communications (Toronto symbol RCI.B) legally challenged the takeover. Rogers claims that its existing deal with Glentel gives it the right to block any change in control. As a result, BCE will sell half of Glentel to Rogers, and the two companies will manage the stores through a 50/50 joint venture. That will still help BCE compete for wireless customers, particularly as Ottawa now limits mobile contract terms to two years or less, at half the cost. BCE is a buy. buy. …