Ontario Teachers Pension & BCE

The financial press is loaded with articles about the Teachers Pension and Canadian telecommunications company BCE. Teacher's is part of a group planning a big buyout of BCE. It's a huge deal. I can't imagine how much time and energy the folks who run the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan are spending on this. Why are the teachers so convinced owning BCE is good for retired, and soon to be retiring teachers?
Could the BCE deal collapse? Would all the time and energy have been better spent in less complicated deals that might have drawn similar returns?

Recently, in the US, a similar deal went through. Media conglomerate Clear Channel was bought-out by two private equity firms with financial backing from banks. The deal has some similarities to the buyout OTPP is a part of.

The Wall Street Journal's Deal Journal wrote about the pending BCE deal and its similarities to the Clear Channel deal:

This deal, unlike the Clear Channel one, is still awaiting Canadian regulatory approvals and the outcome of the bondholder appeal to the Quebec Court of Appeal, which could go to the Supreme Court of Canada. These approvals are expected, however. If BCE is in peril, financing is not the only thing that could kill it. The banks stand to lose around $3 billion on this deal, which is about the same that the could have lost on the Clear Channel deal, which was half the size.

It’s quite possible– and even probable — that BCE will play out just like Clear Channel, with a lot of huffing and puffing ending in a deal everyone can live with. But, as Jane Fonda always warned before any significant exertion, don’t forget to breathe.