Dumb bells: BCE collapse

Is all well that ends well for Providence Equity Partners’ investors? Just shortly after midnight on the day Canadian telecom giant BCE’s record $41bn buyout was supposed to close, the Providence-led acquiring group released a statement saying it terminated the merger. Its investors, and those of the other firms in the group, should be relieved they made the fast break. But the deal still raises big questions about the buyout firms’ judgment. And the group may still be on the hook for a $1.2bn b...