Friday February 20, 3:31 pm Eastern Time
Tel-Save CEO sees sale decision by end Q1
NEW YORK, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Tel-Save Holdings Inc will decide by the end of the first quarter whether to sell out to one of several suitors or go it alone as an independent, company chairman and chief executive Dan Borislow said Friday.
''By the end of this quarter we will have an agreement to be sold at a premium,'' Borislow told Reuters shortly after Tel-Save said it had retained Salomon Smith Barney for advice on the possible sale of the company. ''If we don't have one by then, we'll stay independent.''
One of the big factors driving interest in a sale has been the success of its long-distance marketing pact with America Online (AOL - news), Borislow said. As many as 13,000 new customers per day are signing up for Tel-Save's 9-cents-per-minute long distance service through ads that appear on AOL.
''We clearly stole something here from the Big 3 or 4,'' he said, referring to the titans of the long distance business - AT&T Corp (T - news), MCI Communications Corp (MCIC - news), Sprint Corp (FON - news) and WorldCom Inc (WCOM - news). ''Now might be an opportunity for someone to take it back.''
Given the volume and growth potential from the AOL deal, which was augmented two weeks ago by a similar pact with CompuServe Corp (now owned by AOL),''It might be better suited to a larger company than ours,'' Borislow said.
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Just some news for thought. I expect to see some more deal announcements in the future from the "big 3 or 4." Of course, this is just speculation on my part...
S. |
