Topic: How To Invest

MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES $37.43

MANITOBA TELECOM SERVICES $37.43 (Toronto symbol MBT; Shares outstanding: 78.3 million; Market cap: $2.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 3.5%; www.mts.ca) has attracted a $3.1 billion takeover offer from BCE Inc. (see page 38).

Under the deal, Manitoba Tel shareholders can choose either $40 in cash or 0.6756 shares of BCE for every MBT share they hold.

However, BCE plans to limit its overall cash spending, so most Manitoba Tel investors will likely receive 55% of their payout in stock and the remainder in cash.

The takeover comes about five months after Manitoba Tel completed the sale of its money-losing Allstream division to U.S.-based Zayo Group (New York symbol ZAYO) for $420.0 million.

BCE must still satisfy Canadian telecom regulators: as part of the deal, it will sell about one-third of Manitoba Telecom’s current postpaid wireless accounts—a block of about 140,000 subscribers—to Telus Corp. (see page 38). BCE will also transfer one-third of Manitoba Tel’s retail outlets in Manitoba to Telus.

Manitoba Tel’s shares traded at $33 before the takeover bid. The stock now trades closer to the $40 offer. That indicates that shareholders are not expecting a rival offer—particularly since both BCE and competitor Telus are taking part in the deal.

We’ll say more as the deal unfolds, but for now, Manitoba Tel is a hold.

Comments

Tell Us What YOU Think

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Please be respectful with your comments and help us keep this an area that everyone can enjoy. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Terms of Use, please click here to report it to the administrator.