DBRS Rates Bell Canada’s $1 Billion MTN Debenture Issue A (low), Stable

DBRS has today assigned a rating of A (low) to Bell Canada’s $1 billion MTN Debentures, Series M-26, dated March 22, 2013 (the MTN Debentures). The MTN Debentures will mature on March 22, 2023, and were issued at a price of $99.831 per $100 principal amount for a yield to the investor of 3.370% per annum compounded semi-annually.

The MTN Debentures (issued under Bell Canada’s $3.0 billion shelf program) are unsecured and rank pari passu with all other unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness of Bell Canada. The MTN Debentures were issued under Bell Canada’s November 28, 1997, trust indenture and are fully and unconditionally guaranteed by BCE Inc. (BCE; rated BBB (high) by DBRS).

DBRS expects Bell Canada to use the proceeds from this issue for general corporate purposes, including the repayment of outstanding commercial paper (which was incurred for general corporate purposes) and funding a portion of the cost of BCE’s pending acquisition of Astral Media Inc., which remains subject to approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

Note:
All figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.

The applicable methodologies are Rating the Communications Industry (April 2011), Rating the Television Broadcasting Industry (April 2011) and Rating the Radio Broadcasting Industry (April 2011), which can be found on our website under Methodologies.