MONTREAL and WINNIPEG – Former Eastlink and Bell Aliant exec Dan McKeen will lead the new Bell MTS, the company said Friday as BCE officially completed its acquisition of Manitoba Telecom Services.
After receiving all final approvals last month, the $3.9 billion deal sees Bell gain approximately 710,000 wireless, Internet and IPTV customers in Manitoba, a 5% lift in its total broadband service subscribers. The merged company also has over 470,000 total Bell and MTS wireless subscribers in the province.
Bell MTS reiterated its pledge to roll out a five-year, $1 billion broadband network expansion plan for Manitoba's cities, traffic corridors, rural locations and remote communities, and said that it will maintain current MTS wireless price plans for at least 12 months from Friday. The company also said that Winnipeg will serve as Bell's headquarters in Western Canada.
"Bell is proud to be a major investor in Manitoba's future, enabling economic development with the most advanced network infrastructure and service innovations for consumers and business customers”, said George Cope, president and CEO of BCE and Bell Canada, in the news release. “With the talent and experience of the MTS team backed by Bell's scale and proven broadband strategy, Bell MTS will lead the way in Manitoba's competitive communications industry."
Dan McKeen, most recently vice-chair of Bell Aliant, was named vice-chair of Bell MTS and Western Canada, and will also continue to serve in a national role as SVP small business, continued the release. After joining the company in 2010, McKeen was tasked with integrating Bell Aliant in to Bell’s national operations in 2014.
"I'm proud to lead Bell MTS as we begin our plan to take broadband communications to the next level in Manitoba”, added McKeen. “I know firsthand the benefit of Bell's scale and expertise in building the high-performance networks that consumers and businesses need in today's economy. With a strong team in place, Bell MTS is very well positioned to compete in the marketplace with the advanced communications services that will foster economic growth across Manitoba."
Former MTS CEO Jay Forbes has now left the company, as he announced earlier this month, and Cope thanked him for his “exceptional leadership” and support for the deal “while creating tremendous value for customers, shareholders and team members.”
Bell’s CFO Glen LeBlanc will assume the role of Bell Aliant vice-chair in addition to his CFO responsibilities, working from Bell's Montreal national headquarters and Bell Aliant's offices in Halifax, the release continued. Martine Turcotte continues in her role as vice-chair, Quebec, also based in Montreal.
With the completion of the takeover, Bell said that it will update its 2017 financial guidance targets to reflect the acquisition when it reports its first quarter operating and financial results on April 26.
