BCE Inc.: In Play

BCE Inc. (BCE), one of Canada's leading telecommunications companies, had struggled under its weak stock price performance and low valuation relative to its comparable peers, and faced increasing pressure from its largest shareholder, the powerful Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (Teachers'). On March 29, 2007, it was reported that private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts (KKR) had held informal meetings with BCE executives in the hopes of launching a friendly takeover bid for the company. This essentially put BCE in play with the leadership team confirming, on April 17, 2007, that it would be reviewing its strategic alternatives, which included discussions with various Canadian-led consortiums to explore the possibility of a privatization. As the deadline to the bid date drew closer, four contending bidding consortiums emerged, including three consortiums of financial buyers and one strategic buyer. The case provides a good opportunity to discuss private equity investments as well as valuation in a mergers and acquisition context. This case is a follow-up to Ivey case BCE Inc.: Facing the Future, product # 9B09N015.