MONTREAL and HALIFAX – Bell Aliant has completed its conversion from an income trust to a corporate structure after receiving all unitholder, board, court and regulatory approvals.
Unitholders of Bell Aliant Regional Communications Income Fund will receive one common share of the new corporation, known as Bell Aliant Inc. The company’s common shares will begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on January 4th under the trading symbol BA.
"I am pleased that the conversion to a corporate structure is now completed," said president and CEO, Karen Sheriff, in a statement. "The new structure will reduce our administrative costs and complexity from that of the trust structure and will make us more comparable to our peers. We expect this will make the assessment of our performance easier for our investors as we continue to accelerate the execution of our key strategies."
In other company news, Bell Aliant announced that the $40 million sale of its xwave division to parent Bell has been finalized. xwave has operated as part of Bell Aliant and its predecessor companies for a number of years with particular focus on advanced technology solutions and IT professional services, including the provision of e-health solutions.
"Bell welcomes the xwave team and their proven expertise in delivering advanced technology solutions and IT professional services," said Stéphane Boisvert, president of Bell Business Markets, in a statement. "Combining xwave’s leading IT solutions with the national scope and world-class broadband networks of Bell Business Markets accelerates our leadership in providing the best technology and professional services solutions to Canadian enterprise clients."
