BCE Inc. has confirmed that it is considering the possibility of being taken private, just a week after the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan hinted at bidding $45 billion for the telecommunications company.

Montreal-based BCE, the parent company of Canada's largest telephone company Bell Canada, said it was "reviewing its strategic alternatives with a view to further enhancing shareholder value."

It said that, as part of the strategic review, it had also entered into discussions with a group of Canadian pension funds to look at being taken private.

The group will be led by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board.

New York-based equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co., which announced its interest in the company in late March, will also join the Canadian-led consortium as a minority partner, said a release by BCE.

Reports by the New York Times and the Globe and Mail earlier this month said the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan had enlisted the help of U.S. buyout firm Providence Equity Partners Inc. to look into a buyout, and was in talks with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec to increase its bid from its earlier offer of $40 a share, or $32 billion.

The Ontario-based pension fund is the telephone company's largest shareholder.

BCE said it would "also continue to explore other opportunities" in its strategic review, and warned that the announcement did not mean any specific action would result.

Shares of BCE rose $2.43 in early-morning trading to $34.50.