The story
The Bell Telephone Company of Canada Ltd. was created by an act of Parliament on April 29, 1880. Later known as Bell Canada, its charter granted it the right to construct telephone lines alongside all public rights-of-way in Canada. Under a licensing agreement with the US-based American Bell Telephone Company, Bell also manufactured telephones and telephone equipment, an activity that would be spun off in a separate company that later became Northern Telecom and then Nortel Networks.
In 1983, all of the Bell Canada group of companies (also known as the "Bell Group") were placed under a new holding company, Bell Canada Enterprises Inc. (BCE). This corporate reorganization resulted in Bell Canada and its subsidiaries, including Northern Telecom (later Nortel Networks) and over 80 others, becoming subsidiaries of the new holding company, BCE. Under the new parent, each company was owned directly by BCE, which had the benefit of freeing the manufacturing company, Nortel, and other holdings from the heavily regulated telephone company, Bell Canada. Under a variety of leaders, BCE has embarked on a series of diversifications, consolidations, and corporate strategies. In 1988, Bell Canada Enterprises was shortened to BCE Inc.
Diversification and expansion
In 1983, A. Jean de Grandpré, chairman of Bell Canada, was appointed as the first chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of BCE. The company soon embarked on a major diversification into property development, the energy sector, financial services, and other sectors. Within a few years, it became the first Canadian company to report CA$1 billion in profits.
When Jean Monty assumed the job of CEO in 1998, he pursued a convergence strategy, attempting to combine both content creation and distribution within BCE, and to take greater advantage of the emerging Internet market. BCE's acquisition in 2000 (and subsequent financing) of overseas carrier Teleglobe cost billions of dollars. BCE sold Teleglobe two years later; Jean Monty resigned and was succeeded by Michael Sabia as CEO.
Refocus on core business
Michael Sabia refocused BCE on its core telecommunications business, prompting BCE to buy back the 20% share in Bell Canada that it had sold in 1999 to Ameritech (later acquired by SBC Corporation). BCE also spun off operating units that it did not consider to be core to its business, including Emergis in 2004, and Bell Globemedia and Telesat Canada in 2006.
On February 1, 2006, stating the need to remain competitive, Bell Canada announced job cuts of 3,000 to 4,000 employees by the end of 2006.
On April 28 that year, BCE announced that CEO Michael Sabia was taking a 455% pay increase; his salary being raised from CA$1.21 million to $6.71 million. The pay included a $1.25 million salary, a $2.2 million bonus that Sabia converted to deferred share units, a long-term incentive payout of $3 million and other compensation, the filing shows. Bell Canada also posted record revenue increases for the previous fiscal year.
Under pressure from investors, on October 11, 2006, BCE announced it would be wound down, with its remaining assets converted to an income trust so its income could be distributed directly to shareholders through dividends, avoiding corporate taxes. The new entity was planned to be named "Bell Canada Income Fund". As part of this restructuring, Bell Aliant offered to take Bell Nordiq private, while remaining separate from the new Bell trust. Due to announced changes in taxation law by the Canadian federal government, on December 12, 2006, BCE announced it would not proceed with its planned conversion to an income trust. It then started planning a restructuring that would have eliminated the BCE holding company, but this was put on hold when the company began attracting takeover bids.
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In February 2021, and in line with the growing importance of 5G wireless networks, BCE announced the launch of the largest investment program in its history to double the proportion of Canadians covered.
Proposed takeover
Due to its stagnant share price, starting in April 2007, BCE was courted for acquisition by pension funds and private equity groups, including a consortium led by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts as one of the participants), a consortium led by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP), and a consortium that included Cerberus Capital Management. On June 30, 2007, BCE accepted a bid of $42.75 per share in cash, for a total valuation of $51.7 billion, from the group led by the OTPP, and including Providence Equity Partners, Madison Dearborn Partners, Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity, and Toronto-Dominion Bank. The proposed deal would have been the largest acquisition in Canadian history and the largest leveraged buyout ever.
The deal was approved by BCE shareholders,
Quebec Superior Court
(whose ruling was overturned by the Quebec Court of Appeal, but was later upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada),
and the CRTC, subject to certain conditions for its corporate governance structure to ensure that Bell remained under Canadian control.
(See BCE Inc v 1976 Debentureholders for further information).
Due to the tightening of the credit market caused by the subprime mortgage crisis, the investment banks financing the deal – led by Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and the Royal Bank of Scotland – started negotiations on May 16, 2008, to revise the terms of their loans with greater interest rates and greater restrictions to protect themselves. On July 4, 2008, BCE announced that a final agreement had been reached on the terms of the purchase, with all financing in place, and Michael Sabia left BCE, with George Cope assuming the position of CEO on July 11.
On November 26, 2008, BCE announced that KPMG had informed BCE that it would not be able to issue a statement on the solvency of the company after its privatization, one of the required conditions of the buyout. As a result, the purchase was cancelled.
Expanding again into mass media
With Shaw Communications purchasing the Global Television Network, Vidéotron launching its wireless telephone network with video content as a key selling point, and the enormous popularity of wireless and Internet video and other media streams at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Bell once again sought to bring a content provider into its portfolio. In September 2010, Bell announced a deal to reacquire full control of the broadcasting properties owned by CTVglobemedia including the CTV Television Network. Bell also obtained a 15% interest in The Globe and Mail, CTVglobemedia's other major asset, with the remaining 85% owned by the Thomson family.
Through this acquisition, Bell responded to an increasing trend away from traditional cable and satellite delivery channels and towards new distribution methods over the Internet and wireless networks.
The CRTC approved the transaction in March 2011.
In 2016, BCE announced that it had entered an agreement to acquire Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS) in a transaction worth $3.9 billion. The deal was approved by both companies' shareholders and boards of directors, and closed in March 2017 after the Competition Bureau and other agencies approved of the acquisition.
Cuts and changes in business strategies
In June 2023, BCE announced that it was cutting 1,300 positions across its telecom and media operations (around three per cent of its workforce, and of which approximately 30% were unfilled vacancies), including six per cent of positions at Bell Media (which had 5,645 employees at the end of 2022). The company also announced it would be closing or selling nine AM radio stations, some of which had changed to automated formats during previous rounds of cuts. Three stations—CKWW, CKOC, and CHAM—were sold to CINA Media Group. BCE blamed a number of industry changes and increasing losses in its news divisions for the cuts, while questioning the regulatory priorities of the federal government and the CRTC; one BCE executive mentioned having waited for reforms on some items for years, while also citing "relentless regulatory intervention" by the CRTC to cut wireless and Internet service pricing. This rationale was questioned by union officials and other experts who felt Bell should have better prepared for industry changes, or could have waited for the full implementation of the Online Streaming Act (Bill C-11) and the Online News Act (Bill C-18).
On February 8, 2024, BCE announced that it would cut 4,800 positions, citing declining revenues, and new CRTC requirements mandating that the company offer wholesale access to its fibreoptic networks to competitors. The cuts resulted in major cuts at Bell Media, including cutbacks at CTV News and the proposed sale of nearly half of its radio stations. In June 2024, BCE announced that it had agreed to sell Northwestel to a consortium of First Nations groups in Northern Canada for around $1 billion.
On November 4, 2024, BCE announced its intent to acquire U.S. telco Ziply Fiber—which operates in the Pacific Northwest—for $5 billion (US$3.6 billion). On August 1, 2025, BCE acquired Ziply Fiber, BCE stated that Ziply will be a wholly owned but separate business unit.
From Wikipedia’s article on BCE Inc., shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.8