BCE Inc., the parent of Canada’s largest telephone provider, announced on Tuesday that it has entered negotiations to sell the business to a private consortium of pension funds.

The group is being led by the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Investment Board, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, and Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board, and also includes Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., a U.S.-based private equity firm. Kohlberg will function as a minority partner if the deal goes through, due to special regulations set out in the Bell Canada Act, preventing non-Canadians from owning more than 46% of the telecom giant.

These latest negotiations come on the heels of speculation that BCE’s biggest shareholder, the Ontario Teachers` Pension Plan, could form its own consortium of private partners and gain control of the company.