Canadian BCE Offered $48.5 B

Elena
02 Jul, 2007
New York City

Wall street opened higher on the first day of the third quarter, boosted by enthusiasm over new merger deals, including a multibillion-dollar takeover of Canadian telecom carrier BCE. A group led by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, including two U.S. private-equity houses, agreed to buy BCE for $48.5 billion, sending its shares up 3.5%. Economic data that showed faster manufacturing growth also helped generate positive sentiment. The ISM''s index advanced 56% in June.

[R]9:45AM Market opened higher, boosted by multibillion-dollar takeover deals.[/R]

Wall Street opened higher on the first day of the third quarter, boosted by enthusiasm over new merger deals, including a multibillion-dollar takeover of Canadian telecom carrier BCE. Economic data that showed faster manufacturing growth in June also helped generate positive sentiment. The ISM's index advanced 56% last month, which was above 55.0% in May and econmists' forecast for a 55.1% reading.

A group led by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, including two U.S. private-equity houses, agreed to buy BCE ((BCE)) for $48.5 billion, sending its shares up 3.5%. Further in M&A action, AT&T Inc. ((T)) on Friday agreed to buy Dobson Communications ((DCEL)) for $2.8 billion. Carlyle Group offered $11.1 billion to acquire telecommunications company Virgin Media ((VMED)).

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 91.78 points, or 0.68%, at 13,500.40. The blue-chip average was supported by Caterpillar ((CAT)) and Honeywell International ((HON)), each rising 2%. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 12.32 points, or 0.82%, at 1,515.67. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 22.82 points, or 0.88%, at 2,626.05.


[R]9:00AM Wall Street to open higher on takeover deals.[/R]

U.S. stock futures moved to the upside on Monday on the first day of the third quarter. Pre-market sentiment was lifted by several takeover deals, which managed to offset rising oil prices and overseas terrorism worries. A group led by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, including two U.S. private-equity houses, agreed to buy BCE ((BCE)) for $48.5 billion, sending BCE shares up 3.5%%.

In other deal news, Carlyle Group reportedly offered between $33 and $35 a share for British cable operator Virgin Media. The offer values all of Virgin Media''s equity at up to $11.7 billion. Virgin Media stock jumped 17% in pre-market trading. AT&T ((T)) agreed to buy mobile operator Dobson Communications ((DCEL)) in a deal worth $2.8 billion.

On the economic news front, the Institute of Supply Management is due to release its manufacturing sentiment for June, which is largely expected to be unchanged from May. On Monday before the bell, Dow futures expiring in September were up 22.00, or 0.12%, at 13,539 while S&P 500 futures rose 5.00, or 0.33%, to 1,524.40. Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 6.50, or 0.33%, to 1,962.50.