BCE buys all of Virgin

Article Excerpt

BCE INC. $24.87 (Toronto symbol BCE; Shares outstanding: 767.8 million; Market cap: $19.1 billion; SI Rating: Above Average) will pay $142 million to buy the 50% of Virgin Mobile Canada that it doesn’t already own from its joint-venture partner, U.K.-based The Virgin Group. In 2004, BCE and The Virgin Group teamed up to market low-cost cellphones to younger consumers. Virgin uses BCE’s wireless network. This new deal gives BCE the right to use the “Virgin” brand. As well, owning all of Virgin will help BCE fend off new wireless competitors that plan to start operating later this year. BCE is still a safety-conscious buy. buy…