Bell is selling a 49.9 per cent stake in a new wireless tower company to La Caisse for $2.45 billion CAD, a move that follows Telus’s similar tower partnership with the same Quebec pension investor last year.
BCE announced the deal early Tuesday. The new firm, called TowerCo, will hold more than 5,000 of Bell’s passive wireless sites and is valued at about $4.91 billion CAD. Bell keeps a 50.1 per cent controlling stake.
TowerCo will be based in Montréal and will lease tower capacity back to Bell under long-term agreements. Bell says it keeps full ownership of its spectrum, active network gear and owned land. New sites for Bell are still on the table, and TowerCo plans to grow through densification and third-party colocation.
The sale is meant to free up cash as BCE works toward a net debt leverage ratio of 3.5x by the end of 2027. That fits a debt squeeze that has hit all of the Big 4 after years of spectrum spending, fibre builds and big acquisitions.
Shareholders already felt that pressure in May 2025, when Bell cut its annual dividend by more than half. Rogers earlier raised billions by selling a stake in its wireless backhaul network, and Telus closed its own 49.9 per cent tower sale to La Caisse for $1.26 billion CAD.
Under the Bell deal, TowerCo is expected to have no financial debt at closing, and Bell will consolidate its results. Closing is targeted for the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions.
La Caisse manages retirement and insurance savings for millions of Quebecers and held about $552 billion CAD in net assets as of June 30, 2026. Bell said the partnership unlocks value in infrastructure assets while the company keeps operating the wireless network customers use every day.
Would you rather see carriers keep owning every tower themselves, or share sites with pension funds if it helps them pay down debt?
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