The BCE and Aliant corporate rearrangements went through last week, clearing the way for the launch of Bell Aliant Regional Communications Income Fund today.
Income trusts are seen to be a way to “unlock additional value” for shareholders by getting rid of income taxes in the corporation and issuing taxable dividends to the unit-holders.
I have some issues with the income trust gyrations. First off, I’m not crazy about the financial engineering itself – it seems like a lot of cost and effort being expended that could be rendered moot by a federal budget. Second, I am concerned about the level of inter-dependence in the ongoing operations of the regional company.