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Gold/Mining/Energy : BCE Blue chip growth stock -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SBHX who wrote (265)	4/28/2002 1:59:13 PM
From: CIMA	Respond to of 275

SBC puts market in extended state of suspense (gam) Janis Mackey Frayer It is the question that could pester Canadian markets for the next 44 trading days: Will SBC Communications exercise its put option to heave back its 20-per-cent stake in Bell Canada come July 1? That's when its six-month window of opportunity to pull the trigger opens. The answer could very well be found in the festering, smelly mess that is America's telecom industry and the extent to which SBC wants to play janitor. At the top of the dumpster these days is WorldCom. Once a sizzler, the Deep South stinker is now in a "precarious position and at risk of breaching covenants," suggests a financial analyst. Yet, beyond the crumby weak balance sheet, WorldCom boasts a national U.S. long distance presence and Internet backbone facilities that stretch into Canada. If SBC made a move for WorldCom and its Canadian berth, a telecom watcher suggests the folks in Texas "may rethink the need for any strategic relationship with Bell." Another scenario was dialled up a few weeks ago, when SBC was rumoured to be making a run for AT&T. One source is pleased to juice up this speculation, with some good ol' fashioned firsthand eavesdropping. While visiting the San Jose offices of Cisco Systems in December, this person overheard a "Wall Street-type woman" (official description) talking about SBC actively "knocking on a lot of doors in Washington." The company was said to be testing the political and regulatory impact of a bid for AT&T with the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission. However, to keep the antitrust guns firmly holstered, analysts suggest SBC might nibble only at AT&T's business long-distance segment and wireless properties. Both of those assets have strong market ties in Canada, including a stake in Rogers Wireless (which operates on an entirely different network from Bell Mobility). Again, the telecom analyst says that, if this played out, SBC might "question the efficacy of maintaining its Bell investment." At a news conference this week, BCE chief executive officer Michael Sabia insisted SBC has made no decision. Mr. Sabia added that he is in regular contact with the OK-telecom-corral and "come what may we are prepared."

To: SBHX who wrote (265)	4/29/2002 12:06:24 PM
From: CIMA	Respond to of 275

Class Action Launched Versus BCE, Bell Cda International, Directors (djones) TORONTO -(Dow Jones)- A C$250 million class action lawsuit has been launched on behalf of anyone who, on Dec. 3, 2001, owned a least one unit of the 6.75% debentures issued by Bell Canada International Inc. (BCICF). In a news release, Harvey Strosberg said he is representing plaintiffs Kenneth Field, K. Field Resources, Brian T. Clark and Cooper M. Spence in the class action suit. Strosberg, of Sutts, Strosberg LLP, said the defendants are BCE Inc. (BCE), Bell Canada International and individual directors of Bell Canada International, including former chairman and chief executive Jean Monty and new chief executive Michael Sabia. BMO Nesbitt Burns is also named in the action, Strosberg said. Web Site: bciclassaction.com (This story was originally published by Dow Jones Newswires) Copyright (c) 2002 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

To: SBHX who wrote (265)	6/20/2002 7:35:17 AM
From: CIMA	Respond to of 275

Banks make love, not war, with BCE (gam) Andrew Willis When BCE pulled the rug from under Teleglobe and blew a billion-dollar hole in the Canadian banks' balance sheets, you'd think the conglomerate would pay a price with its lenders. The bankers certainly had all sorts of reasons to be angry, and all sorts of ways to get even. They had former BCE chairman Jean Monty's pledges to stand behind Teleglobe. They had BCE's continued influence over the affairs of the long-distance carrier. And when it comes to a big stick, the Canadian banks have BCE over a barrel. The conglomerate will likely have a pressing need for money this summer, as it faces paying $7-billion to repurchase a 20-per-cent stake in Bell Canada that's about to be punted back to BCE, at a premium to its market value, by U.S. telecommunications company SBC. With all this pent-up anger, and all this leverage, what are the bankers actually doing? Well, they spent a week or two of huffing and puffing in righteous indignation around the time Mr. Monty left the stage and Teleglobe's fate was sealed. Since then, Air Canada and the private jets have been winging to BCE's Montreal head office from Toronto with a succession of investment bankers bent on making peace, not war. Teleglobe's $1.25-billion (U.S.) hit is now ancient history. It bit the past quarter's earnings for every bank. The bankers are looking to the future, when opportunities will flow from SBC's sale of its Bell Canada shares. The same banks that just lost money on loans to Teleglobe are now falling over themselves to lend to its parent, BCE. In exchange for this credit, they will demand starring roles in any equity offering that BCE does to pay down debt. They want to raise cash off the back of the phone-book business, a potential $2-billion (Canadian) deal that's coming soon. And they want a leading role in possible Bell Canada income trusts. And the bankers will lend in return for mandates to sell unwanted divisions in the coming BCE yard sale, when CGI, BCE Emergis and, down the road, the conglomerate's media assets are all likely to go on the auction block. And who can blame the investment bankers -- most get paid their bonus off bottom-line profits that are driven by the fees they bring in, not on the performance of the loan portfolio, which can be as distant as a war in Africa. Newly named BCE chief executive officer Michael Sabia must get a laugh at the whole unseemly process. His first major decision was to hammer the banks by cutting Teleglobe loose, and those same banks are now fawning all over him. He's not the first executive to get this treatment: The Reichmann family still enjoys a warm reception from Canadian Imperial bank of Commerce, despite the havoc wrought on the bank's shareholders when their real estate empire crashed.