Three Way Bid for BCE Underway

Portfolio holding BCE Inc. (BCE) has officially attracted three bids from investment groups that include Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Cerberus Capital Management, in what may be Canada's biggest takeover.

But with Onex and Telus (TU) withdrawing from the bidding process, the chances of an all-out bidding war are reduced. By how much? Well, like everything else associated with value investing, time will tell.

Read the linked Bloomberg report, and you'll see that some believe BCE has been clumsy in the bidding process. Among the complaints is that not enough time has been given to potential bidders, especially considering how big a company BCE is. So the possibility exists that more time could be given, but with three players making offers I don't know how great the chances of that are.

We were fortunte to buy BCE at a good price -- US$23.01 per share -- last year. That should provide downside protection regardless of how tame this war proves to be.

BCE 1-yr chart