Back on May 21st, the $34.1 billion buyout deal for BCE (NYSE: BCE) looked bleak. A Quebec court ruled that the process had to stop -- so as to evaluate the impact on bondholders. As a result, BCE's stock price plunged from $37.83 to $33.10.
Of course, the decision was immediately appealed to Canada's Supreme Court. And, it was a savvy move. Today, the high court agreed to allow the BCE deal to move forward (this is according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, which is a paid publication). In fact, there was no rationale provided (instead, this will be provided at a later date).
However, there are still headwinds on the buyout. Simply put, the credit crunch is still lingering and making it extremely difficult to pull off mega financings. The banks on the deal include Citigroup (NYSE: C), Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB), Royal Bank of Scotland, and Toronto-Dominion Bank. Of course, they don't want to sustain any more losses on their balance sheets.
Then again, this does not mean the deal will fall apart. Rather, there will likely be pressure to renegotiate the price tag on the transaction. After all, this is what happened with the buyout of Clear Channel.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook
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