enterprises inc. 1983 1988 type public traded as tsx bce nyse bce s & p tsx 60 component industry telecommunications mass media founded 1983 founder a. jean de grandpr headquarters montreal quebec canada key people george cope ceo 1 products fixed line and mobile telephony internet services digital television radio broadcasting print revenue 19.49 billion cad 2014 2 operating income 3.672 billion cad 2014 net income 2.159 billion cad 2014 number of employees 55 250 2014 3 subsidiaries bell canada bell media maple leaf sports & entertainment 37.5 % bell mobility bell aliant virgin mobile canada solo mobile bell internet bell tv bell fibe tv northwestel website bce.ca bce inc. originally bell canada enterprises inc. is a canadian telecommunications company . it is one of canada s largest corporations and a publicly traded holding company for canada s largest communications network . it has been the parent company in the bell canada corporate empire since its creation in 1983 when bell canada northern telecom and other related companies all became subsidiaries of bce . in addition to its core telecommunications operations that also include bell mobility bell aliant northwestel t l bec northerntel and the ctv television network bce owns 18 % of the montreal canadiens ice hockey club and together with bce s pension plan a 37.5 % interest in maple leaf sports & entertainment owner of several toronto professional sports franchises . 4 it was ranked as canada s 17th largest corporations by revenue in 2014 5 and as the 9th largest by capitalization in 2015 . 6 contents 1 history 1.1 1983 1998 diversification and expansion 1.2 1998 2002 convergence strategy internet boom and bust 1.3 2002 present refocus on core business 1.4 2006 conversion to income trust 1.5 2007 2008 proposed takeover 1.6 2010 convergence and consolidation 2 major subsidiaries 2.1 bell canada 2.2 bell media 3 other holdings 3.1 montreal canadiens 3.2 maple leaf sports and entertainment 4 past holdings 4.1 bell aliant 4.2 bce development 4.3 montreal trust 4.4 nortel networks 4.5 teleglobe inc. 4.6 telesat canada 4.7 transcanada pipelines 5 corporate governance 6 references 7 external links history edit the bell telephone company of canada ltd. was created by an act of parliament on 29 april 1880 . later known as bell canada its charter granted it the right to construct telephone lines alongside all public rights of way in canada . under a licensing agreement with the us based america bell telephone company bell also manufactured telephones and telephone equipment an activity that would be spun off in a separate company that later became northern telecom and then nortel networks . in 1983 all the bell canada group of companies also known as the bell group were placed under a new holding company bell canada enterprises inc. bce . this corporate reorganization resulted in bell canada and its subsidiaries including northern telecom later nortel networks and over 80 others becoming subsidiaries of the new holding company bce . under the new parent each company was owned directly by bce which had the benefit of freeing the manufacturing company nortel and other holdings from the heavily regulated telephone company bell canada . under a variety of leaders bce has embarked on a series of diversifications consolidations and corporate strategies . 7 in 1988 bell canada enterprises was renamed bce inc. 1983 1998 diversification and expansion edit in 1983 a. jean de grandpr chairman of bell canada was appointed as the first chairman and chief executive officer of bce . 8 bce soon embarked on a major diversification into property development the energy sector financial services and other sectors . within a few years it became the first canadian company to report cad 1 billion in profits . 1998 2002 convergence strategy internet boom and bust edit when jean monty assumed the job of ceo in 1998 he pursued a convergence strategy attempting to combine both content creation and distribution within bce and to take greater advantage of the emerging internet market . bce s acquisition in 2000 and subsequent financing of overseas carrier teleglobe cost billions of dollars . bce sold teleglobe two years later ; jean monty resigned and was succeeded by michael sabia as ceo . 9 10 2002 present refocus on core business edit michael sabia refocused bce on its core telecommunications business prompting bce to buy back the 20 % share in bell canada that it had sold in 1999 to ameritech which was subsequently acquired by sbc corporation . 11 bce also spun off operating units that it did not consider to be core to its business including emergis in 2004 and bell globemedia and telesat canada in 2006 . on february 1 2006 stating the need to remain competitive bell canada announced job cuts of 3 000 to 4 000 employees by the end of 2006 . on april 28 bce announced that ceo michael sabia was taking a 455 % pay increase his salary being raised from c 1.21 million a year to 6.71 million a year . the pay included a 1.25 million salary a 2.2 million bonus that sabia converted to deferred share units a long term incentive payout of 3 million and other compensation the filing shows . bell canada also posted record revenue increases for the previous fiscal year . 2006 conversion to income trust edit under pressure from investors on october 11 2006 bce announced it would be wound down with its remaining assets converted to an income trust so its income could be distributed directly to shareholders through dividends avoiding corporate taxes . the new entity was planned to be named bell canada income fund . as part of this restructuring bell aliant offered to take bell nordiq private while remaining separate from the new bell trust . 12 due to announced changes in taxation law by the canadian federal government on december 12 2006 bce announced it would not proceed with its planned conversion to an income trust . 13 14 it then started planning a restructuring that would have eliminated the bce holding company 15 16 but this was put on hold when the company began attracting takeover bids . 2007 2008 proposed takeover edit due to its stagnant share price starting in april 2007 bce was courted for acquisition by pension funds and private equity groups including a consortium led by the canada pension plan investment board with kohlberg kravis roberts as one of the participants a consortium led by the ontario teachers pension plan and a consortium that included cerberus capital management . 17 on june 30 2007 bce accepted a bid of 42.75 per share in cash for a total valuation of 51.7 billion from the group led by the ontario teachers pension plan and including providence equity partners madison dearborn partners merrill lynch global private equity and toronto dominion bank . the proposed deal would have been the largest acquisition in canadian history and the largest leveraged buyout ever . 18 19 the deal was approved by bce shareholders 20 quebec superior court 21 whose ruling was overturned by the quebec court of appeal 22 but was later upheld by the supreme court of canada 23 and the crtc subject to certain conditions for its corporate governance structure to ensure that bell remained under canadian control . 24 see bce inc v 1976 debentureholders for further information . due to the tightening of the credit market caused by the subprime mortgage crisis the investment banks financing the deal led by citigroup deutsche bank and the royal bank of scotland started negotiations on may 16 2008 to revise the terms of their loans with higher interest rates and greater restrictions to protect themselves . 19 on july 4 2008 bce announced that a final agreement had been reached on the terms of the purchase 25 with all financing in place and michael sabia left bce with george cope assuming the position of ceo on july 11 . 1 on november 26 2008 bce announced that kpmg had informed bce that it would not be able to issue a statement on the solvency of the company after its privatization one of the required conditions of the buyout . as a result the purchase was cancelled . 26 27 2010 convergence and consolidation edit with shaw communications purchasing the global television network vid otron launching its wireless telephone network with video content as a key selling point 28 and the enormous popularity of wireless and internet video and other media streams at the 2010 vancouver olympics 29 bell once again sought to bring a content provider into its portfolio . in september 2010 bell announced a deal to reacquire full control of the broadcasting properties owned by ctvglobemedia including the ctv television network . bell also obtained a 15 % interest in the globe and mail ctvglobemedia s other major asset with the remaining 85 % owned by the thomson family . 30 through this acquisition bell responded to an increasing trend away from traditional cable and satellite delivery channels and towards new distribution methods over the internet and wireless networks . 31 the crtc approved the transaction in march 2011 . 32 in 2016 bce announced that it had entered an agreement to acquire manitoba telecom services mts in a transaction worth 3.9 billion . the deal has been approved by both companies shareholders and boards of directors and is expected to close in late 2016 or early 2017 pending regulatory approval from the competition bureau and other agencies . 33 major subsidiaries edit as of 2015 bce inc. has three main subsidiaries bell canada bell mobility and bell media comprising over 80 % of bce s revenue . 34 bell canada edit main article bell canada this is formed primarily of the historic core of the company in central atlantic and northern canada . distribution ontario quebec atlantic bell canada cablevision du nord de quebec inc. northwestel northwestel inc. bell tv bell expressvu limited partnership bell media edit main article bell media bell media is the bce broadcast and media subsidiary . in 2000 bce bought the ctv television network for 2.3 billion . the company combined ctv with its holdings in the globe and mail newspaper to form bell globemedia with bce owning 70 % and thomson newspapers and woodbridge co. ltd. the remainder . in 2005 bce sold its controlling interest in bell globemedia for 183 million to woodbridge torstar and the ontario teachers pension plan with bce retaining a 20 % stake . 35 36 the company was subsequently renamed ctvglobemedia . in 2010 bce bought out the other owners acquiring ctv s specialty television digital media conventional tv and radio broadcasting platforms . 37 in august 2015 bce sold its remaining 15 % stake in the globe and mail to woodbridge . 38 bell media s subsidiaries bell media tv bell media tv sports specialty services bell media tv specialty services other than sports bell media radio bell media astral radio tv & specialty services other holdings edit below is partial list of the holdings of the bce conglomerate . montreal canadiens edit in 2009 bce partnered with the molson family in acquiring the montr al canadiens hockey club and the bell centre . the 575 million purchase was termed the richest deal in nhl history ; bce s share was reported to be 40 million . 39 maple leaf sports and entertainment edit in 2011 together with rogers communications and kilmer sports holding company of larry tanenbaum bce acquired maple leaf sports & entertainment owner of the toronto maple leafs professional hockey team . bce s interest is held in partnership with rogers communications through the holding company 8047286 canada inc. 50 % owned by rogers and 50 % by bce holding company 7680147 canada inc. which is in turn 74.67 % owned by bce and 25.33 % by bce master trust fund investment fund of bell s pension plan