Bell To Buy MTS

[The Unknown Poster]

10 minutes ago, Taynted_Fayth said:

meh i still prefered mts for its uniqueness

It wont change for a long time, if ever.

[bigg jay]

18 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

Not a chance.  They make money off of naming rights.  True North wouldnt lose out on the money to name it after itself.  Be thankful.  It could be calling Jobing.Com or something equally as stupid.  MTSC is actually a pretty good name (local business, easy to say/remember).  Bell Centre would be fine too.  If Bell keeps the MTS brand long term, I imagine it eventually becomes Bell MTS Centre and we all just keep calling it MTSC anyway.

CanWest Global Park switched to SHAW Park when that sale happened (and we dodged a bullet because the original naming rights went to Mind Computer products and the park was to be called Mind Field...but the deal fell apart thankfully because that name was a one-note joke that played itself out rather quickly!

The curse of the Goldeyes!  Mind went bankrupt a few years later and then CanWest followed suit.

I was working at Mind around that time and people were furious that they were spending the money on that kind of thing when they had serious financial issues.  People were being laid off on a regular basis but there was still money for naming a ball park?

[The Unknown Poster]

To be honest, I was surprised MTS kept the naming rights once the Jets came back.  My understanding is the rights fees increased substantially when the NHL returned and the benefit to naming rights at an NHL venue is National Advertising and since MTS is a regional provider I assumed they wouldnt feel the cost was worth it.  So I was surprised.  For Bell, it makes sense but more so to advertise Bell.  So if I had to bet, they would change it to Bell MTS Centre as soon as they could. 

But it will depend on their strategy for the MTS brand.  If the sale goes through, they are actually reducing MTS' market share for competitive reasons so they will be battling Rogers, Telus and SHAW.  The MTS brand might give them an edge with loyalty.  You'd have to assume the long term plan is to eventually have Bell supplant MTS.

[FrostyWinnipeg]

3 hours ago, bigg jay said:

The curse of the Goldeyes!  Mind went bankrupt a few years later and then CanWest followed suit.

I was working at Mind around that time and people were furious that they were spending the money on that kind of thing when they had serious financial issues.  People were being laid off on a regular basis but there was still money for naming a ball park?

I remember Mind. Great location. Seemed to go down hill when they ratted out that one customer to the cops Just a coincidence.

One of the best local stores. Whose left? Elm?

Edited May 3, 2016 by FrostyWinnipeg

[The Unknown Poster]

6 minutes ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

I remember Mind. Great location. Seemed to go down hill when they ratted out that one customer to the cops Just a coincidence.

One of the best local stores. Whose left? Elm?

Whats this story?

I remember thinking that Mind didnt seem large enough for naming rights but I have no idea really.

[pigseye]

I would have expected the MTS share price (a lot held by employees) to have jumped with the news but it is dropping with the news that the deal will face tough regulatory scrutiny.

[The Unknown Poster]

46 minutes ago, pigseye said:

I would have expected the MTS share price (a lot held by employees) to have jumped with the news but it is dropping with the news that the deal will face tough regulatory scrutiny.

I just sold some shares a few weeks ago unfortinately. But I didn't have many to begin and still have a few

read some analysts think it won't be approved. And some saying the sell off to Telus would be more likely to curry favour of it was a sale to SHAW to maintain four strong wireless competitors. 

But federal liberals are pals with bell. I expect it to pass. 

[The Unknown Poster]

MTS agreed to a new deal with one of their Unions that saw little to no concessions made by the Union plus a small increase every year for three years.  Feeling among the membership is that company wants no labor strife during the sale process.

[The Unknown Poster]

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/premier-wall-says-risk-analysis-in-the-works-for-sasktel-after-mts-sale-to-bell-379846721.html

[The Unknown Poster]

http://business.financialpost.com/fp-tech-desk/crtc-approves-broadcast-part-of-bell-mts-deal-two-approvals-still-needed-to-go-ahead

Cant copy & paste from there but they suggest the government might attach more conditions before approving the sale, such as transferring wireless spectrum to SHAW to keep 4 carriers in the province.  If I recall, SHAW had previously bought spectrum and then sold it off when they decided not to get into wireless (they pushed a wi-fi strategy).  Now, they own Freedom (formerly Wind) and want to get back in.  If MTS was forced to sell 1/3 of its wireless to Shaw, it would automatically create a 4-way competitive landscape here and eliminate MTS' main advantage here - the bundling of all home services.

Edited December 20, 2016 by The Unknown Poster