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The Globe and Mail reports that several institutional shareholders of BCE (BCE/NYSE) have told the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan they would support its effort to buy the company -- if the purchase price is roughly C$40 a share.

These institutions reportedly own more than a third of BCE:

Some of these major shareholders said any bid in this range will almost certainly have their backing, given BCE's weak stock performance and mounting impatience with the company's turnaround efforts under chief executive officer Michael Sabia.

Canaccord Adams analyst David Lambert says BCE (BCE/NYSE) could make a C$12-billion takeover bid for Shaw Communications as a potential defense against any buyout, according to Canada's Financial Post:

When I purchased stock in BCE Inc. (BCE/NYSE) last August, I said one of the things I liked about the company was management's commitment to repurchasing shares. Shedding assets and ample dividend payouts are added attractions.

Yesterday BCE announced plans to buy back and cancel another C$1.2 billion worth of its stock, or about 5% of the shares. BCE previously bought 45.15 million of its common shares, at a total cost of C$1.24 billion cash, in a normal course issuer bid that expired on February 2.