Reuters: Mergers News: UPDATE 1-Mason seeks to sell Telus stake, paper says

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UPDATE 1-Mason seeks to sell Telus stake, paper says Jun 6th 2012, 16:42 Wed Jun 6, 2012 12:42pm EDT * Telus's biggest shareholder shopping stake, Globe says * Report says dissident shareholder Mason hired Blackstone TORONTO, June 6 (Reuters) - Telus Corp's biggest shareholder, Mason Capital Management LLC, is looking for a buyer for its 19 percent stake in the Canadian telecommunications provider, according to a report in Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper on Wednesday. The U.S.-based hedge fund has hired Blackstone Group LP to sell its $2 billion stake, the paper said, citing "a person familiar with the situation". A spokesman for Mason declined to comment on the report. Mason bought the voting shares in a successful bid last month to block the Vancouver-based company's plan to unify its dual-share structure by converting non-voting stock into voting shares on a one-for-one basis. Since then it has been unclear if Mason intends to hold on to the stake or look to dispose of it. A Telus spokesman said that regardless of what Mason chooses to do with its Telus stake, the company plans to try again "in due course" to put its conversion plan in place. Telus's voting shares were 0.3 percent lower at C$59.65 early on Wednesday afternoon on the Toronto Stock Exchange, while the non-voting stock was almost unchanged at C$58.31. The historical gap between the two classes of shares had narrowed after Telus said it planned to unify the shares, but has widened a bit since the move was blocked. The Blackstone bankers have contacted as many as 30 groups worldwide, according to the Globe and Mail, including telecom companies that may look to build a stake in Telus ahead of a Canadian government move to liberalize restrictions on foreign ownership of the country's telecom providers. The government is introducing legislation that would enable a foreign buyer to control a telecom company with less than 10 percent of the market, a change that does not affect existing foreign-ownership restrictions on Telus and its main rivals BCE Inc and Rogers Communications. Foreigners are currently prohibited from owning more than 20 percent of the voting shares in those companies and limited to indirect control of 46.7 percent. Industry executives are pushing for the foreign-ownership limits to be raised across the board, but Industry Minister Christian Paradis gave no indication on Tuesday that the government would take that step anytime soon. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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