- $1 billion program to deliver
advanced broadband networks and services throughout Manitoba
- Fibe TV, CraveTV, Gigabit Internet and Canada's fastest-ranked
wireless network for communities large and small; 4G LTE wireless
turns on in Churchill today
- Dan McKeen leads the Bell MTS
team from Winnipeg as Vice Chair,
Bell MTS & Western Canada
- Investment in the community includes a new Bell Let's Talk
project led by Clara Hughes
MONTRÉAL and WINNIPEG,
March 17, 2017 /CNW Telbec/
- BCE Inc. (Bell) (TSX: BCE) (NYSE: BCE) today announced
the launch of Bell MTS following the completion of its acquisition
of Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS). Uniting the local and national
strengths of MTS and Bell Canada,
the new Bell MTS will bring unprecedented investment and innovation
in broadband communications to Manitoba, including the rollout of
next-generation Fibe services and Canada's fastest-ranked wireless
network.
"On behalf of everyone on the Bell team, I extend a warm welcome
to our new Bell MTS colleagues. We look forward to working with you
to deliver the leading broadband wireless, Internet, TV and media
services throughout Manitoba,"
said George Cope, President and CEO
of BCE and Bell Canada. "Bell is
proud to be a major investor in Manitoba's future, enabling economic
development with the most advanced network infrastructure and
service innovations for consumers and business customers. With the
talent and experience of the MTS team backed by Bell's scale and
proven broadband strategy, Bell MTS will lead the way in
Manitoba's competitive
communications industry."
"I would like to thank departing MTS CEO Jay Forbes for his exceptional leadership of MTS
and his support in completing the $3.9
billion Bell MTS transaction, enabling a new era of
communications investment and growth in Manitoba while creating tremendous value for
customers, shareholders and team members," said Mr. Cope.
Bell MTS will roll out a 5-year, $1
billion broadband network expansion plan for Manitoba's cities, traffic corridors, rural
locations and remote communities. Winnipeg will also serve as Bell's
headquarters in Western
Canada.
Dan McKeen appointed Vice
Chair, Bell MTS & Western Canada
Bell MTS will be led by
Dan McKeen, Vice Chair, Bell MTS & Western
Canada, who will also continue to serve in a national role
as Senior VP, Small Business.
A Bell executive experienced in operational integration and the
efficient delivery of broadband services to urban, rural and remote
communities alike, Mr. McKeen was most recently Bell's Vice Chair,
Bell Aliant. He was appointed in
2014 to lead the successful integration of Bell Aliant, the #1
communications services provider in New
Brunswick, Newfoundland and
Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, into Bell's national
operations.
"I'm proud to lead Bell MTS as we begin our plan to take
broadband communications to the next level in Manitoba. I know firsthand the benefit of
Bell's scale and expertise in building the high-performance
networks that consumers and businesses need in today's economy.
With a strong team in place, Bell MTS is very well positioned to
compete in the marketplace with the advanced communications
services that will foster economic growth across Manitoba," said Mr. McKeen.
Glen LeBlanc, Bell's Chief
Financial Officer, will assume the role of Vice Chair, Bell Aliant in addition to his CFO
responsibilities, working from Bell's Montréal national
headquarters and Bell Aliant's offices in Halifax. Martine
Turcotte continues in her role as Vice Chair, Québec, also
based in Montréal.
4G LTE is on in Churchill
"I'm excited to announce that
we've successfully delivered our first Bell MTS infrastructure
project today: New 4G LTE wireless service for the town of
Churchill," said Mr. McKeen. "A
growing ecotourism and research centre, the Polar Bear Capital of
the World is now served by the mobile network ranked faster than
any in Canada and the United States, and will soon be
connected with new broadband fibre connections. It's a great
example of the Bell MTS plan to efficiently deliver the outstanding
TV, Internet, mobile and business services to Manitobans."
Building on the proud MTS legacy of service and deep knowledge
of the Manitoba marketplace with
significant capital investment, Bell MTS will introduce the
superior Fibe TV experience, the fastest Internet with Gigabit
Fibe, the fastest-ranked 4G LTE wireless available, Bell Media's
popular CraveTV, and the most extensive national data hosting,
connectivity and cloud services for government and business
customers.
As part of its launch plan, Bell MTS will maintain current MTS
wireless price plans for at least 12 months from today. Integrating
operations at a total of 69 Bell and MTS retail stores across the
province, Bell MTS will offer the full range of MTS and Bell
wireless, TV, Internet and home phone services. That includes MTS
Ultimate TV and Bell Satellite TV, as well as enhanced services
like Fibe TV and Fibe Internet, and exclusive products like the
Wireless 4K PVR and the HomeHub 3000 residential gateway as they
become available. Bell MTS wireless services will also become
available at The Source, Tbooth wireless and WirelessWave locations
throughout Manitoba.
Starting today, CraveTV is available to MTS Ultimate TV
subscribers who can sign up for Canada's fast-growing video
streaming service and get the first 30 days free. Launched in 2014,
CraveTV has gained more than a million subscribers to its top
television programming from major studios like HBO and SHOWTIME and
original all-Canadian content like the hit comedy LETTERKENNY –
which premieres the special episode "St. Perfect's Day" today.
In addition to Churchill, which
will also be connected with Gigabit Fibe Internet and Fibe TV
services, Bell MTS has announced these initial projects in its
Manitoba capital investment
program:
- Sponsorship of Winnipeg's
downtown Innovation Alley hub for students, creators and
entrepreneurs including superfast LTE-Advanced mobile and Gigabit
Fibe Internet services.
- Continuous broadband wireless coverage along Manitoba's critical north-south transportation
corridor, Highways 6 and 75 from Manitoba's "Hub of the North" Thompson to the
US border at Emerson.
- Expansion of mobile and wireline broadband networks in the
mining centre of Flin Flon on the
Saskatchewan border.
- New wireless services for smaller towns and remote locations,
including 5 underserved Indigenous communities: Easterville, Gods
Lake Narrows, Gods River,
Grand Rapids and Red Sucker Lake.
Bell Let's Talk in Manitoba
The Bell Let's Talk initiative
is expanding in Manitoba with a
new dedicated fund for Indigenous mental health chaired by
Winnipeg's own Clara Hughes, legendary Canadian Olympian and
national spokesperson for Bell Let's Talk. The Bell Let's Talk team
is consulting with leaders from Manitoba Indigenous communities on
plans for program funding announcements.
"Local engagement and insight have been key to Bell Let's Talk
from the start so we are pleased to be learning from community
leaders how we can best support the mental health and wellness of
Manitoba's Indigenous peoples,"
said Ms. Hughes. "Bell Let's Talk can make a real difference in
opening new avenues of community support across Manitoba and I'm very excited to help make
that happen."
Already active in Manitoba,
Bell Let's Talk announced 2016 Community Fund grants for 7 Manitoba
organizations delivering mental health support programs in their
communities. Grant applications are being accepted until
March 31 for the annual $1-million Bell Let's Talk Community Fund, which
funds grassroots mental health initiatives in every region of
Canada.
Acquisition of MTS completed
Bell has completed its
acquisition of all 74,398,389 common shares of MTS, being all of
its issued and outstanding common shares. A detailed description of
the Plan of Arrangement (the Arrangement) is provided in the MTS
management information circular dated May
26, 2016. MTS common shares are expected to be delisted from
the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) effective on March 20, 2017.
With the completion of the transaction, Bell gains approximately
710,000 wireless, Internet and IPTV customers in Manitoba, a 5% increase in its total broadband
service subscribers, and becomes the #1 mobile provider in
Manitoba with more than 470,000
total Bell and MTS wireless subscribers.
Bell will update its 2017 financial guidance targets to reflect
the MTS acquisition when it reports Q1 2017 operating and financial
results on April 26.
Information for MTS security holders
As specified
under the Arrangement, MTS shareholders were entitled to elect and
receive, for each common share held, either: $40.00 per MTS common share in cash, subject to
pro-ration (cash consideration); or 0.6756 of a BCE common share
per MTS common share, subject to pro-ration (share consideration).
The share consideration was based on BCE's 20-day volume weighted
average price of $59.21 on
April 29, 2016 (the business day
before the announcement of the transaction). Shareholders could
only elect to receive cash consideration or share consideration for
all their shares; shareholders could not elect to receive a
combination of cash and shares. Any MTS shareholder who did not
properly make an election by 5 p.m. eastern
time on March 14, 2017 was
deemed to have elected to receive, for each MTS common share, the
cash consideration, subject to proration and rounding.
The aggregate consideration of approximately $2.9 billion being paid to MTS shareholders will
be 45% in cash and 55% in BCE common shares. BCE funded the
approximate $1.34 billion cash
component through debt financing and issued 27,642,714 BCE common
shares to fund the equity component.
The table below indicates the entitlement to be received by MTS
shareholders for each MTS common share. The pro-ration was only
applied to the cash consideration option.
Election
|
Entitlement to be
received
|
Cash
consideration
|
$20.3977 in cash and
0.3311 of a BCE common share
|
Share
consideration
|
0.6756 of a BCE
common share
|
No valid
election
|
$20.3977 in cash and
0.3311 of a BCE common share
|
No fractional shares will be issued and BCE will pay out
fractional shares in cash.
An MTS shareholder who has elected to receive share
consideration or cash consideration but, because of proration,
receives a combination of BCE common shares and cash, will be
required to make a joint election to obtain a full or partial tax
deferral. A tax instruction letter providing certain instructions
on how to complete the tax election may be obtained at BCE's
website at bce.ca/investors/shareholder-info/mts-acquisition.
MTS has applied to cease to be a reporting issuer under
applicable Canadian securities laws. Bell
Canada intends to assume all of the obligations of MTS under
its outstanding medium-term notes as part of an internal corporate
reorganization of MTS, and BCE intends to guarantee these
obligations.
Caution concerning forward-looking statements
Certain
statements made in this news release are forward-looking
statements, including, but not limited to, statements relating to
benefits expected to result from the acquisition of MTS by Bell,
including our network deployment and capital investment plans in
Manitoba, our business outlook,
objectives, plans and strategic priorities, and other statements
that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are
typically identified by the words assumption, goal, guidance,
objective, outlook, project, strategy, target and other similar
expressions or future or conditional verbs such as aim, anticipate,
believe, could, expect, intend, may, plan, seek, should, strive and
will. All such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the
"safe harbour" provisions of applicable Canadian securities laws
and of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995.
Forward-looking statements, by their very nature, are subject to
inherent risks and uncertainties and are based on several
assumptions, both general and specific, which give rise to the
possibility that actual results or events could differ materially
from our expectations expressed in or implied by such
forward-looking statements. As a result, we cannot guarantee that
any forward-looking statement will materialize and we caution you
against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. The
forward-looking statements contained in this news release describe
our expectations at the date of this news release and, accordingly,
are subject to change after such date. Except as may be required by
Canadian securities laws, we do not undertake any obligation to
update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this
news release, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise. Forward-looking statements are provided herein for
the purpose of giving information about benefits expected to result
from the acquisition of MTS by Bell, including our network
deployment and capital investment plans in Manitoba. Readers are cautioned that such
information may not be appropriate for other purposes.
There can be no assurance that the benefits expected to result from
the acquisition of MTS, including our network deployment and
capital investment plans in Manitoba, will be realized. The nature and
value of capital investments planned to be made in Manitoba over 5 years assume our ability to
access or generate the necessary sources of capital. However, there
can be no assurance that the required sources of capital will be
available with the result that the actual capital investments made
by us in Manitoba during such
period could materially differ from current expectations.
About Bell
Canada's largest communications company,
Bell provides consumer, business and government customers with a
comprehensive and innovative suite of broadband wireless, TV,
Internet and business communication services from Bell Canada, Bell Aliant and, starting today,
Bell MTS. Bell Media is Canada's premier multimedia company with
leading assets in television, radio, out of home and digital media.
Founded in Montréal in 1880, Bell is wholly owned by BCE Inc. (TSX,
NYSE: BCE). To learn more, please visit BCE.ca or Bell.ca.
The Bell Let's Talk initiative promotes Canadian mental health
with national awareness and anti-stigma campaigns like Bell Let's
Talk Day, a national day of conversation about mental health, and
significant Bell funding of community care and access, research and
workplace initiatives. Bell Let's Talk Day 2017 set new records
with 131,705,010 total messages of support driving $6,585,250.50 more in Bell funding for Canadian
mental health at no extra cost to participants. To learn more,
please visit Bell.ca/LetsTalk.
Media inquiries:
Marc
Choma
613-785-0622
marc.choma@bell.ca
Investor inquiries:
Thane Fotopoulos
514-870-4619
thane.fotopoulos@bell.ca
SOURCE Bell Canada