For beleaguered 3Com Corp. [COMS], no news is bad news. The telecommunications gear maker announced Wednesday that no progress has been made in salvaging its $2.2 billion buyout by private equity firm Bain Capital LLC and China's Huawei Technologies Co.

Bain and Huawei, China's top telecom equipment maker, last month withdrew a filing seeking approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which reviews corporate deals with foreign buyers. 3Com shares got a boost on Feb. 29 after it said it was working to fix the deal in a way that would appease the CFIUS.

But today's update sent 3Com shares plunging 24%, to $2.17, in morning trading. The company did say that it would go ahead with a shareholder vote on March 21, as agreed upon in its original deal, in part because it would preseve the company's right to pursue a break-up fee. However, it added: "There can be no assurance that the parties will be able to close the merger transaction contemplated by the existing merger agreement, even if the merger agreement is approved by 3Com's shareholders." - Olaf de Senerpont Domis

See March 19 3Com press release from BusinessWire
See Feb. 20 story from Tech Confidential
See Feb. 29 story from Tech Confidential