Canadian Pension Funds Nearing $7 Bln Telesat Acquisition

(RTTNews) - Two Canadian pension funds - Ontario Teachers Pension plan and Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board - are nearing a $7 billion deal to buy Canadian satellite company Telesat Holdings Inc, Bloomberg reported Monday, quoting people familiar with the matter.

As per the terms being discussed, the two Canadian pension funds will buy Loral Space & Communications Inc (LORL), which owns 63 percent of Telesat, for about $85 a share, or $2.6 billion, Bloomberg said.

A deal could be clinched next month, but talks may falter, given that discussions had broken down in the past.

PSP currently has an about 37 percent stake in Telesat.

Loral earlier rejected an offer by the two Canadian firms which valued Loral at over $80 per share.

According to Bloomberg, the exact value of the deal depends on how a September ViaSat Inc lawsuit settlement is divided between Loral Space & Communications and its former unit, Space Systems/Loral LLC.

LORL closed Monday at $78.50, up $5.29 or 7.23%, on the Nasdaq. In after hours, the stock gained 0.38%.