BCE Inc. has struck a $675-million deal to acquire the remaining interest it does not already own in Q9 Networks Inc.

Montreal-based BCE owns 35.4 per cent of Q9 following a deal in 2012 that saw a consortium of investors purchase the data centre operator for $1.1-billion.

On Monday, BCE said it has reached an agreement to buy out its fellow investors, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, and U.S. private equity firms Providence Equity Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners.

The deal includes Q9's net debt but not BCE's existing ownership interest, the company said, adding that it expects the transaction to close before the end of the year.

The transaction will bulk up BCE’s investment in the data centre and cloud services space as businesses and government departments increasingly look to outsource IT functions.

“The acquisition supports Bell’s ability to compete against domestic and international providers in the growing outsourced data services sector,” BCE said in a brief statement Monday.

Traditional Canadian telecom providers have invested heavily in data centres and enterprise services in recent years but they often face stiff competition from major U.S. and international tech and cloud-computing players.

BCE’s deal to own all of Q9 is also the latest in a string of transactions the company has conducted under the leadership of chief executive officer George Cope.

Most recently BCE announced plans to acquire Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. for $3.1-billion (plus the assumption of $800-million in debt). That deal still requires government and regulatory approvals and the company does not expect to close until late this year or early 2017.

Since 2008, when Mr. Cope became CEO, BCE has also acquired wireless retailers the Source and half of Glentel Inc. as well as media properties CTV for $1.3-billion and Astral for $3-billion and an interest in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.

In 2014, it took Atlantic Canada’s Bell Aliant private in a transaction worth almost $4-billion. Following that deal, Bell Aliant’s former CEO Karen Sheriff was named president and CEO of Q9 Networks.

BNN is a division of Bell Media, which is owned by BCE.