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 Could the epic saga of the BCE Inc. buyout finally be easing into its denouement? A report in The Globe and Mail, Canada's national newspaper, might make you think so.The Globe reported Monday that the C$52.3 billion ($51.5 billion) deal is on track to close by August and the buyers' negotiations with their banks are "surprisingly cordial," which might not be that surprising, given that so many of the players are Canadian. The buyout group led by Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan got some good news Friday when the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously ruled that the buyout does not unfairly punish holders of debentures issued by Bell Canada, BCE's largest shareholder. Now the question is whether the buyers' banks -- led by Citigroup Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG -- will put up the C$32 billion needed to finance the deal. "Everyone has the right mindset, and there are really only two or three contentious issues outstanding," one negotiator told The Globe and Mail on Sunday. The buyout of Canada's largest telecom is often compared with that of Texas radio broadcaster Clear Channel Communications Inc. After the banks backing that deal balked at providing funding at the original terms, they forced a renegotiation that resulted in a 19% drop in the takeout price. The Ontario Teachers' group -- which includes Providence Equity Partners Inc., Madison Dearborn Partners LLC and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity -- has agreed to pay C$42.75 per share for BCE, so a 19% drop would put the renegotiated price at C$34.63. However, the Globe article points out that Montreal-based BCE, with its strong cash flow from telecom customers, is a better credit than Clear Channel, so the discount might not be as severe. Analysts recently have said the final closing price likely will not be above C$40 per share. - Peter Moreira See story from The Globe and Mail See story from Bloomberg CategoriesPrivate capital video
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