March 2 (Bloomberg) -- BCE Inc., Canada’s largest phone company, agreed to buy consumer-electronics retail chain The Source to help promote its wireless, television, Internet and home-phone services.

BCE will acquire 750 stores for an undisclosed price from bankrupt parent Circuit City Stores Inc., the Montreal-based company said today in a statement. The stores will operate independently from BCE’s Bell brand.

Chief Executive Officer George Cope announced plans last month to use retail stores to win back market share from Rogers Communications Inc. While BCE leads the nation in total phone customers, Rogers has more wireless users. Today’s acquisition will help BCE accelerate growth of its mobile-phone business, Cope said in the statement.

Circuit City said on Jan. 16 it will shut down all of its 567 U.S. stores after failing to find a buyer that would keep the chain in operation. Its main creditors won the right to liquidate the company’s assets in a court-sanctioned auction.

The Source had sales of C$643 million ($498 million) last year, with a pretax profit of C$27 million. BCE is paying “significantly less” for the chain than Circuit City did in 2004, when it purchased the company for C$335 million, spokesman Mark Langton said.

BCE fell 63 cents to C$24.20 at 4 p.m. in Toronto Stock Exchange trading.

-- Editors: Nick Turner, Ville Heiskanen

To contact the reporter on this story: Hugo Miller in Toronto at hugomiller@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 2, 2009 16:48 EST