DBRS Discontinues Bell Aliant’s Preferred Shares Rating

DBRS has today discontinued Bell Aliant Preferred Equity Inc.’s (Bell Aliant) preferred share ratings following their delisting as part of Bell Aliant Inc.’s privatization. This rating action removes Bell Aliant’s preferred shares from Under Review with Positive Implications.

On July 23, 2014, BCE Inc. (BCE) announced it would privatize its Bell Aliant Inc. affiliate by acquiring the interest of public minority shareholders for consideration of approximately $3.95 billion. DBRS subsequently placed Bell Aliant’s preferred shares Under Review with Positive Implications based on the stronger credit profile of BCE/Bell Canada. The transaction closed on October 31, 2014.

As part of BCE’s tender offer to acquire the minority interest in Bell Aliant Inc., BCE exchanged all of the issued and outstanding Series A Preferred Shares, Series C Preferred Shares and Series E Preferred Shares at Bell Aliant Preferred Equity Inc. on the basis of (a) one BCE Series AM Preferred Share for each Series A Preferred Share; (b) one BCE Series AO Preferred Share for each Series C Preferred Share; and (c) one BCE Series AQ Preferred Share for each Series E Preferred Share. Bell Aliant’s preferred shares were delisted from the TSX at the close of trading on November 3, 2014.

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

The applicable methodology is Rating Companies in the Communications Industry, which can be found on our website under Methodologies.