BCE sells MTS Common Shares
September 23 2004 - 10:59AM
PR Newswire (US)
BCE sells MTS Common Shares MONTREAL, Sept. 23
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BCE Inc. (BCE) today announced that,
based on preliminary information released by Manitoba Telecom
Services Inc. (MTS), it expects that approximately 7.5 million of
its MTS common shares will be purchased by MTS at $43.00 per share
under the terms and conditions of MTS' substantial issuer bid which
expired on September 21, 2004. In addition, BCE also announced
today the sale, through the facilities of the Toronto Stock
Exchange, of 6 million of its MTS common shares at a price of
$42.65 per share. Following these transactions, BCE will hold
approximately 150,000 MTS common shares and its equity interest in
MTS will decrease from 15.96% to approximately 0.2%. Total proceeds
from these transactions amount to approximately $578 million. These
transactions are consistent with BCE's previously announced
intention to dispose of its interest in MTS. About BCE Bell Canada
Enterprises is Canada's largest communications company. Through its
26 million customer connections, BCE provides the most
comprehensive and innovative suite of communication services to
residential and business customers in Canada. Under the Bell brand,
the company's services include local, long distance and wireless
phone services, high speed and wireless Internet access,
IP-broadband services, value-added business solutions and
direct-to-home satellite and VDSL television services. Other BCE
businesses include Canada's premier media company, Bell Globemedia,
and Telesat, a pioneer and world leader in satellite operations and
systems management. BCE shares are listed in Canada, the United
States and Europe. DATASOURCE: BCE INC. CONTACT: France Poulin,
Communications, (514) 786-8033, Web Site: http://www.bce.ca/ To
request a free copy of this organization's annual report, please go
to http://www.newswire.ca/ and click on reports@cnw
Copyright