$35B Buyout of Canadian Telecom Company Dead

By ROB GILLIES

TORONTO -- The largest leveraged buyout in history is dead after a group of buyers of the Canadian telecom company BCE (BCE Quote) said an audit found the proposed $35 billion deal to take the company private did not meet solvency requirements.

An investment group led by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board and several U.S. partners had expected to complete its deal for BCE, the parent of Bell Canada, on Dec. 11. It also would have been the biggest takeover in Canadian history.

But a review by accounting firm KPMG found that BCE would not meet the solvency tests of the privatization agreement, partly due to the amount of debt involved in the transaction and current market conditions. The company had to meet the solvency requirements for the acquisition to be completed. ...