Massachusetts fund to sell stocks of Sudan-related firms

(Reuters) - Massachusetts' state pension fund, one of America's biggest and most successful, plans to sell some $80 million in holdings of companies that invest in Sudan, becoming the latest investor to protest violence there.

"Money managers who invest for us and own stocks like Schlumberger (Ltd.) and PetroChina (Co. Ltd.) will be selling those holdings," Michael Travaglini, executive director of the $50.3 billion Massachusetts' Pension Reserves Investment Management Board (PRIM) fund, told Reuters. "In total we expect it will be about $80 million," he said.


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Canadian Stocks Gain for Third Day; Telus Rises on Buyout Speculation

(Bloomberg) -- Canadian stocks rose for a third day
on speculation that Telus Corp. may seek to top a buyout offer
accepted last week by BCE Inc. from the Ontario Teachers' Pension
Plan.

Gains in the market were limited by Research In Motion Ltd.,
whose shares declined after reaching a record yesterday.


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BCE rating could fall over 6 notches -S&P

(Reuters) - However, if enough equity is contributed to achieve initial
leverage of under 7 times and further reductions in debt were
expected in the medium-term, the rating would likely be at the
mid-to-low end of the BB category, the agency said.




BCE said on Saturday its board recommended shareholders
accept a C$42.75 a share offer from a consortium including the
Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, Teachers Private Capital,
Providence Equity Partners Inc. and Madison Dearborn Partners,
LLC.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

US STOCKS-Indexes rise on data, takeover news

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, July 2 - U.S. stocks rose on Monday,
boosted by takeover news and data that showed manufacturing
growth quickened in June even as price pressures eased.




In deal news, Canada's largest telephone company, BCE Inc
, agreed to a proposed US$32.8 billion buyout
from a group that includes the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan on
Saturday, in the biggest such transaction in Canadian corporate
history. For details, see [ID:nN02315411].


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

BCE, Dobson, Focus, InterOil, Theravance, Virgin Media: U.S. Equity Movers

(Bloomberg) -- The following is a list of companies
whose shares are having unusual price changes in U.S. exchanges
today. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names.
Share prices are as of 9:35 a.m. New York time.

BCE Inc. (BCE US) rose $1.28, or 3.4 percent, to $39.07.
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, which manages C$106 billion ($100
billion) for teachers in Canada's most populous province, agreed
June 30 to buy the country's biggest phone company for C$34.2
billion with investors including Providence Equity Partners Inc.
The value of the transaction with debt, preferred shares and
minority interests is C$51.7 billion.


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Canadian Stocks Gain After Research In Motion Profit Rises; BCE Advances

(Bloomberg) -- Canadian stocks rose the most in two
weeks after Research In Motion Ltd. announced a stock split and
first-quarter profit that exceeded analyst estimates.

Research In Motion, the maker of BlackBerry e-mail phones had
the biggest jump in nine months and reached a new high. BCE Inc.,
Canada's biggest phone company, gained after the Ontario Teachers'
Pension Plan said it made bids for all BCE shares it doesn't
already own.


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Japan Pension Fund Association Tells Cash-Rich Companies to Pay Up or Grow

(Bloomberg) -- Japan's Pension Fund Association,
which oversees $107 billion of stocks and bonds, plans to use
annual shareholder meetings to pressure companies with excess
cash reserves to pay out or expand.

The pension manager will vote against the re-election of
board members of companies whose return on equity has been less
than 8 percent for each of the past three years, in line with a
policy set in February, said Taku Yamamoto, head of the fund's
investment department.


Read more at Bloomberg Stocks News