CPP and Manitoba Tel.teaming up to bid for a wireless spectrum position in the auction .... could this be a place for BCE money? Do we smell another telecom takeover? Opinions...
Cellphone race heats up as Manitoba Tel reveals backers
CATHERINE McLEAN
00:00 EST Tuesday, Mar 11, 2008
Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. got some powerful backing yesterday for its dream to become a national cellphone provider when it announced plans to team up with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Blackstone Group LP to bid for wireless spectrum in a coming auction.
For CPPIB, the group vehicle represents a new chance to gain exposure to the growing national wireless market after the pension fund was outbid by Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in a hotly contested fight to take BCE Inc. private.
The announcement came the day that would-be bidders had to submit applications and financial deposits to Industry Canada, which is running the auction.