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 will get $850 million in Canadian trade financing to help it buy enterprise services from BlackBerry Ltd, 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. (Corrects figures to U.S. dollars from Canadian dollars) (Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Peter Galloway)