BCE and Telus have both cut dividends by more than half to reduce debt
Quebec’s public pension manager has agreed to buy a direct stake in a second wireless tower network in just over a year.
BCE Inc.’s Bell will sell 49.9% of its newly formed tower company to Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (La Caisse) for $2.45 billion, a price that values the business at about $4.91 billion.
The transaction follows a series of debt reduction measures by Canada’s largest telecoms that has included asset sales to institutional investors and dividend cuts. Bell said the partial sale of its passive wireless infrastructure assets will help it pay off debt by the end of 2027 and fund its growing AI-powered solutions business.
The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions.
A familiar structure
In September 2025, Telus closed the sale of a 49.9% interest in its tower operator Terrion to La Caisse for about $1.26 billion, which valued Terrion at over $2.5 billion.
Telus kept majority ownership of Terrion, which has about 3,000 sites, and said the proceeds would reduce its net debt by $1.26 billion.
Bell will likewise retain a 50.1% controlling equity interest in TowerCo and consolidate its results, while TowerCo is expected to have no financial debt at closing.
The Montreal-based TowerCo will own and operate more than 5,000 sites across Canada and plans to grow through new site builds, site densification and third-party colocation. It will lease capacity on the transferred towers to Bell and develop new sites for the carrier as needed.
Bell will keep full ownership and control of its spectrum, all active network equipment and owned land.
Dividend resets at BCE and Telus
BCE cut its annual dividend by 56% to $1.75 per share. It expects to reduce its net debt leverage ratio to 3.5 times by the end of 2027 and move toward three times by 2030.
Telus followed on July 31, 2026, when it cut its quarterly dividend to 18.75 cents per share from 41.84 cents to direct more cash to debt repayment.
BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said the company has consistently communicated since early 2025 that its approach is to shore up its balance sheet, “invest in growth and deliver total returns to shareholders.”
Proceeds tied to debt and AI
In March, BNN Bloomberg reported that Bell Mobility agreed to sell its land mobile radio networks services business to Motorola Solutions Canada Networks Inc. for $675 million under BCE’s plan to sell $7 billion in assets to reduce debt.
Bell announced a $1.7 billion AI data centre build in Saskatchewan in March. Bibic said BCE was increasing its three-year financial growth targets with that announcement.
Pension capital on the buy side
La Caisse is a global investment group with $552 billion in net assets across financial markets, private equity, infrastructure, real estate and private credit.
La Caisse reported that figure as of June 30, after a 5.1% return in the first half of 2026 that generated $26 billion in gains but trailed its 7.5% benchmark. Its infrastructure holdings returned 7.2% against a 12.7% benchmark.
Emmanuel Jaclot, executive vice-president and head of infrastructure and sustainability at La Caisse, said the reach of Bell’s network, together with La Caisse’s “global digital infrastructure expertise will give this new platform the focus and long-term perspective to grow.”
La Caisse has made other digital infrastructure commitments. In April, Australian data centre operator NEXTDC said La Caisse had made a binding A$1 billion commitment to its subordinated hybrid securities offer.
