Cerberus Capital Management Joins the BCE Bidding Battle

File this under "the more the merrier." The Globe and Mail reported Thursday that Cerberus Capital Management is joining the bidding battle for BCE Inc. (BCE). Reuters reports the development is welcome news to analysts:

The Globe and Mail newspaper, citing sources it said were familiar with the situation, wrote on Thursday that Cerberus had enlisted the help of investment bankers UBS AG and Genuity Capital Markets to advise them on making a play for BCE, owner of Bell Canada.

"Cerberus is all over it," the paper quoted one source as saying. "They believe they are there."

Another interesting bit:

A takeover of BCE could easily top C$31 billion ($28.4 billion), making it one of the biggest take-private buyouts in North America.

And this:

"It just goes to show people clearly see a lot of value in the asset and there is certainly no shortage of capital ready to be deployed on the side of private equity," said Neil Andrew, associate portfolio manager at Leeward Hedge Funds.