UPDATE: Audet defends Cogeco deal as share price dives

MONTREAL – Louis Audet knew what was coming - and Friday's Cogeco Cable conference call to explain the company's $658 million purchase was set up as best he could to assuage the fears of investors.Financial analysts who follow the company had been warning Audet for the better part of a year that they thought the European expansion strategy Cogeco was pursuing was a bad idea – and once Friday's deal to buy Portuguese cable outfit Cabovisao was announced, the markets responded by pummeling the cable company's stock price. It ended Friday at $24.36, down 16.9% on the day. Parent company Cogeco...