The private equity team that the agreed to acquire BCE said in a statement that they terminated the deal in accordance with its terms. The group, which included Providence Equity Partners, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Madison Dearborn, and Merrill Lynch, said that a solvency opinion from KPMG allowed them to break the agreement without paying a termination fee.

The statement said that the June 30 2007 merger agreement required that a nationally recognised valuation firm must form a solvency opinion on the company before the deal closed. Both BCE and the private equity team selected KPMG to serve as the valuation, as reflected in the July 4 2008 amendment to the definitive agreement, the statement said.

• BCE statement
• Providence statement

26 Nov 2008 -

Giving thanks