S&P Picks and Pans: BCE, Cadence, Stanley Works, Ciena, Eli Lilly, Baidu.com

S&P MAINTAINS HOLD OPINION ON BCE INC SHARES (BCE; 18.29):

BCE announces its pending private equity-led leveraged buyout, priced at about US$35, will not proceed due to potential solvency issues. BCE is seeking the $1.2 billion breakup fee, and separately plans to reinstate its dividend. We had held out hope the deal would close, but in light of reduced peer valuations and a tight credit market, we do not expect a new offer to emerge. We are lowering our 12-month target price by $14 to $21, removing the deal term assumptions and reflecting a 11.5 times multiple on our 2009 EPS estimate of $1.82, given a weak Canadian dollar. -T. Rosenbluth