Vodafone to get $850 million Canada finance, mainly for BlackBerry

Reuters
A truck carrying cars speeds past the headquarters of Vodafone in Madrid March 17, 2014. REUTERS/Susana Vera

OTTAWA (Reuters) - British mobile phone operator Vodafone Group PLC (VOD.L) will get $850 million (541.09 million pounds) in Canadian trade financing to help it buy enterprise services from BlackBerry Ltd (BB.TO), Ottawa said on Tuesday.

Export Development Canada (EDC) said that $750 million would go to BlackBerry, while the remaining $100 million was for future procurement from Canadian suppliers.

"Vodafone's global presence makes it a company that Canada's telecom sector has to have a relationship with," EDC Senior Vice-President Carl Burlock said in a statement.

(This version of the story corrects figures to U.S. dollars from Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Peter Galloway)