Rogers Communications Expands Stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment with C$4.7 Billion Acquisition from BCE

By Adriano Marchese

Rogers Communications is set to acquire BCE's minority stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment for 4.7 billion Canadian dollars ($3.46 billion), expanding its hold on Canadian sports.

The Canadian telecom and media company said Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire BCE's 37.5% stake in the professional sports company that houses major North American sport franchises including the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Toronto Raptors and Toronto FC.

Rogers, which also owns the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team, already owned a 37.5% stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, and the company said that financing for this transaction won't affect its debt leverage and financing will include private investors.

The remaining 25% is owned by Canadian businessman and chairman of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, Lawrence Tanenbaum through his holding company Kilmer Sports.

"We're passionate about sports and we're passionate about winning," Rogers Executive Chair Edward Rogers said.

BCE won't be out of the picture completely. As part of the deal, BCE has secured access to content rights for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors on its TSN channel for the next 20 years. Moreover, through its Bell company, BCE will remain the official telecom sponsor of the Toronto Raptors and will maintain its sponsorships of the Toronto Argonauts and Toronto FC, it said.

BCE said that it intends to direct proceeds of this sale towards reducing debt levels and to support its ongoing transformation from telecom to a more tech-focused company.

The transaction is expected to close sometime around mid-2025.

Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 18, 2024 09:17 ET (13:17 GMT)

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