OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian telecommunications giants Quebecor Inc and BCE Inc are locked in a battle to buy National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens, a leading newspaper said on Friday.
Media reports in the French-speaking province of Quebec say George Gillett, the U.S. entrepreneur who owns the team, is actively seeking to sell the business.
Gillett says he has asked several teams of financial advisors to examine how he make the most of his various sporting assets, which include Premier League side Liverpool.
The La Presse newspaper cited sources as saying both firms had formed consortiums to take over the Canadiens. BCE is working with the investment arm of a major Quebec trade union, it added.
Both firms declined to comment on the story.
Quebec-based National Bank said on Friday it was confident "that the chance of BCE acquiring or even bidding for the Canadiens is very low", citing what it said were assurances from the firm that the team did not fit in with its main priorities.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa and Wojtek Dabrowski in Toronto)
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