With the record $53 billion buyout of Canadian telecom BCE Inc. apparently going forward, the company has announced that
two of its top execs are leaving for jobs with other companies.
Patrick Pinchette, BCE's president for operations, will become Google Inc.'s chief financial officer and SVP, starting in August. More on his move to come on our sister blog, Tech Confidential.
And Scott Thomson, who had been head of corporate development and planning at BCE, is moving to Calgary oil and gas explorer Talisman Energy Inc. as CFO to help it sell $3 billion worth of assets it has on the block. "Scott will be a strong and visible addition to the leadership team at Talisman," Talisman CEO John Manzoni said in a statement.
On June 20, Canada's Supreme Court
approved the plan of arrangement for BCE's buyout by Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan's PE unit, Teachers' Private Capital, Providence Equity Partners Inc., Madison Dearborn Partners LLC and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity. Lenders on the transaction would have preferred the court to kill the deal and let them off the hook on the financing.
At Talisman, Thomson -- who prior to BCE was an M&A banker at Goldman, Sachs & Co. -- will also oversee investor relations, marketing and transaction aspects of mergers and acquisitions. Talisman's Phil Dolan will keep his post of senior VP of finance, where he will be responsible for corporate finance, tax and treasury reporting to Thomson.
On May 20 Talisman said it planned to sell some of its operating assets to invest in other areas, including its Southeast Asian operations and North American unconventional gas holdings. It's already sold some assets: In January 2007 it sold its North Sea operations to Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. PJSC, or Taqa, for $550 million. And in April it agreed to sell its Denmark assets to Norwegian Energy Co. ASA for $83 million.
Talisman may also be a takeover target. The South China Morning Post reported May 27 that China's Cnooc Ltd. -- which made a failed attempt to buy Unocal Corp. -- was interested in acquiring it or some of its assets, sending its stock up 3% that day. Talisman has had dealings with Cnooc before. In January it agreed to buy a 3.06% working interest in the Tangguh liquefied natural gas project in West Papua, Indonesia, from Cnooc for $212.5 million.
Talisman has been acquisitive itself. In January it bought RSX Energy Inc. for $106 million to boost its holdings in Alberta. And on Monday, Talisman announced it had agreed to take interests in two exploration blocks in the Kurdistan region of Iraq for $220 million. It plans to spend $80 million developing the blocks.
Whether Talisman is selling or buying, Thomson will have his hands full. -
Claire Poole
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