Verizon Sells Stake In Canada's TELUS
The fixed telco, Verizon Communications has sold its US$1.9B, 20.5% stake in TELUS communications, the West Coast incumbent in Canada. TELUS, like Verizon, owns a mobile phone subsidiary, which operates Canada-wide. Verizon says the sale will allow it to “focus more on core business growth opportunities, including wireless and high-speed access.” (What do you want to bet that the $1.9B doesn’t go into FTTH in Philly!) This follows on the heels of AWE selling its 34% share of Canada’s Rogers Wireless, most likely to focus on the Cingular merger. However, this is a bad time to sell Canadian assets, when just about every economist expects the US dollar to slide. With the US balance of trade heavily weighted to the import side, it’s just a matter of time before the greenback adjusts, and those Canadian assets rise in value for a US company. I think Verizon should have held the stock a little longer. (Oh, yeah, our legalese: Techdirt does not offer stock advice, don’t take this as such. Take stock positions at your own risk.)
