July 11 (Bloomberg) -- BCE Inc., the Canadian phone company that's going private in the biggest leveraged buyout ever, cut its executive ranks as new Chief Executive Officer George Cope took over today.

The total number of BCE and Bell Canada executives will be 12, down from 17, the company said in a statement. A group of investors, led by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, intends to buy Montreal-based BCE for C$52 billion ($51.6 billion) in a transaction scheduled to close by Dec. 11.

Cope, 46, faces pressure to boost sales after more than a million local-phone customers left for rival carriers in the last three years. He is looking to balance efforts to invest in the company's network and pay down an estimated C$34 billion in deal financing once the transaction closes.

Some positions were eliminated and others shuffled as Cope, who was chief operating officer at the company's Bell Canada phone unit, replaced Michael Sabia.

Among the officials who have left is Patrick Pichette, formerly head of network operations, who joined Google Inc. as chief financial officer last month. Scott Thomson, former executive vice president of corporate development and planning at BCE, moved to Talisman Energy Inc., also last month.

BCE rose 35 cents to C$39.25 at 4 p.m. in Toronto Stock Exchange trading.

To contact the reporters on this story: Chris Fournier in Montreal at Cfournier3@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 11, 2008 16:18 EDT