From the moment it happened in 2011, the partnership seemed like a lower-stakes, modern-day version of mutually assured destruction: Bell Canada Enterprises and Rogers Communications, each other’s primary competitors, coming together to buy a majority share of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE).

TORONTO (AP) — Rogers Communications is buying out Bell’s 37.5% share of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment for $4.7 billion ($3.5 billion U.S.), giving it 75% ownership of the sports conglomerate.

Rogers Communications Inc. is buying BCE Inc.’s 37.5% stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. for C$4.7 billion ($3.5 billion), giving the telecommunications giant a majority stake in the sports company whose most valuable assets include the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey club and the Toronto Raptors.