Deal details
The assets will be housed in a newly created wireless infrastructure entity, TowerCo, which will control more than 5,000 sites and stand as Canada's largest dedicated tower company.
La Caisse completed a similar deal with Telus Corp. last year. BCE said the move aligns with its plan to fortify the balance sheet, invest for growth and aim for total shareholder returns.
Strategy and where the cash could go
In 2025, the company cut its dividend to unlock cash, intended both to pay down debt and to support initiatives like artificial intelligence data centers, amid a slowdown in Canadian wireless growth. BCE has pushed into AI services and bought Ziply, a US regional internet provider, and the towers deal gives it funds it can use either to pare borrowings or accelerate its AI strategy.
What analysts and markets are watching
Within Canada's S&P/TSX Composite Index this year, telecoms have performed worst, falling 15.6% as of Monday's close, while BCE is down 13%. Scotiabank analyst Maher Yaghi told clients he expects BCE to put the proceeds into AI-powered solutions and therefore does not view the deal as materially deleveraging. He wrote the transaction is "cash negative in the short term until new AI investments pick up the slack when completed."
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The investor takeaway
BCE's leverage roadmap is simple: bring net debt down to 3.5 times by year-end 2027, compared with about 3.8 times adjusted EBITDA at the close of last year. The bottom line: if more of this influx backs AI buildout rather than debt reduction, near term cash flow may be tighter until those projects are up and running.
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