PrefBlog

BCE Inc. has announced:

that 10,755,445 of its 20,000,000 Cumulative Redeemable First Preferred Shares, Series AC (“Series AC Preferred Shares”) have been tendered for conversion, on a one-for-one basis, into Cumulative Redeemable First Preferred Shares, Series AD (“Series AD Preferred Shares”). Consequently, BCE will issue 10,755,445 new Series AD Preferred Shares on March 1, 2008. The balance of the Series AC Preferred Shares that have not been converted will remain outstanding and will continue to be listed on The Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol BCE.PR.C.
    The Series AC Preferred Shares will pay on a quarterly basis, for the five-year period beginning on March 1, 2008, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of BCE, a fixed dividend based on an annual dividend rate of 4.60%.
    The Series AD Preferred Shares will pay a monthly floating adjustable cash dividend for the five-year period beginning on March 1, 2008, as and when declared by the Board of Directors of BCE. The Series AD Preferred Shares will be listed on The Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol BCE.PR.D and should start trading on a when-issued basis at the opening of the market on February 26, 2008.

The press release also reiterates the purchase price for the issues should the Teachers’ bid close: BCE.PR.C = $25.76 and BCE.PR.D = $25.50.

I previously recommended conversion to BCE.PR.D, on a balance of risks basis.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 21st, 2008 at 6:38 pm and is filed under Issue Comments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.