Snap Judgement: Where Bell won (it got Astral) - and lost (in some of the details)

MAKE NO MISTAKE, it was a long road, but BCE Inc. finally won the right to purchase the most coveted licensed assets owned by Astral Media. However, CRTC decisions are so much more nuanced than a simple “yes” or “no”. So below we give you our first impression of the decision broken down by the number of points Bell won with the Regulator – and lost. WIN: No additional divestitures. Bell executives said repeatedly through the whole process that it could live with certain conditions – even some unprecedented, stringent ones, but it would not proceed with the deal if...