Three funds look to join CPP, bypassing Teachers in BCE hunt

SINCLAIR STEWART Globe and Mail April 23, 2007 Report on Business (Full Story)

Three more pension funds are prepared to throw their support behind the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board's proposed takeover of BCE Inc [BCE-T]., a move that could deal a significant blow to other potential bidders for the country's largest telecommunications company. Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Board, B.C. Investment Management Corp., and Alberta Investment Management have expressed interest in joining a bidding consortium that already includes the CPP, U.S. buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Quebec's Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, said sources close to the talks.

No formal agreement has been signed yet, but one source indicated that these additional pension funds would collectively commit between $400-million and $500-million if they are admitted to the group. That represents less than 10 per cent of the estimated $5.5-billion worth of equity needed to finance what would be the largest corporate acquisition in Canadian history. All three of these provincial funds were regarded as likely candidates to join the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan and create a rival group that would battle the CPP and KKR group for control of BCE.