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Thursday, October 25, 2012

BCE, Astral delay closing date on proposed deal, (NYSE: BCE), (TSE: BCE.TO)

Astral Media Inc said on Thursday that its suitor BCE Inc has opted to delay the closing date of its planned takeover of Astral as it works to overturn a recent regulatory ruling that has reduced the likelihood of the deal being consummated. Last week, Canada's broadcast regulator blocked BCE's C$3 billion (US$3.02 billion) bid for Astral, declaring the deal would give too much power to BCE, which is already the country's leading telecoms company and owner of numerous TV and radio assets.The ruling issued by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) can be appealed to the Federal Court of Appeal. BCE has also asked the federal government to intervene and issue directions to the broadcast regulator to overturn the ruling.Astral said the closing date for the transaction is now Dec. 16. BCE and Astral have the right to further postpone the outside date by an additional 30 days to Jan 15, 2013.

BCE Inc. is a communications company, providing residential, business and wholesale customers with a range of solutions to all their communications needs. Shares of BCE traded higher by 1.3% or $0.55/share to $43.02. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $37.45 and as high as $45.68. On average, 545348 shares of BCE exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 557584.

BCE Inc. is a communications company, providing residential, business and wholesale customers with a range of solutions to all their communications needs. Shares of BCE traded higher by 1.35% or $0.57/share to $42.78. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $38.85 and as high as $45.28. On average, 1277400 shares of BCE.TO exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 1397491.



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