Bell to sell nearly 50% stake in towers to Quebec investment firm

Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) is selling an almost 50 per cent stake in its wireless network for $2.45 billion.

Bell is spinning up a new wireless tower infrastructure company called TowerCo to hold the company’s assets, which cover over 5,000 wireless sites across Canada. The stake in TowerCo is being sold to Quebec investment firm La Caisse, which also manages the Quebec Pension Plan.

Bell’s deal with La Caisse values TowerCo at roughly $4.91 billion. The deal expected to close in early 2027 and is subject to regulatory approval.

Per BNN Bloomberg, the agreement will see TowerCo lease tower capacity to Bell, which will retain a 50.1 per cent controlling interest. However, TowerCo will be open to all carriers, not just Bell. La Caisse’s head of infrastructure and sustainability, Emmanuel Jaclot, told the Globe and Mail that once towers are built, the cost to add more customers “is minimal.”

That said, Bell is set to keep full ownership and controll of its spectrum as well as the active network equipment and owned land.

Bell isn’t the only telecom company that has gone this route. Telus also sold a 49.9 per cent stake in its spun-out tower company to La Caisse for $1.26 billion last year. And back in 2024, Rogers sold a minority stake in its wireless towers to Blackstone for $7 billion.

These spun out tower companies mark a significant shift in Canada’s telecom industry by opening up new infrastructure to competitors, since providers could use the TowerCo towers for their own network hardware.

Header image credit: Bell

Source: BNN Bloomberg, Globe and Mail