today's wsj.
Global Crossing
Makes Frontier
Its Top Priority
----
By Rebecca Blumenstein
Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
NEW YORK -- Global Crossing Ltd., trying to fight off rival bids for Frontier Corp. and U S West
Inc., said it is making Frontier its top priority.
The Hamilton, Bermuda, telecommunications upstart has merger agreements with Frontier and the
Denver-based Bell. But Qwest Communications International Inc. has put higher bids on the table.
"Frontier certainly comes first," said Daniel Cohrs, chief financial officer of Global Crossing, which
operates an undersea telecommunications cable. "There are a lot of things about U S West that
attract us. But right now, we have to focus on Frontier."
Still, on the first day of a weeklong road show with investors, Global Crossing officials said they
aren't yet willing to increase their bid for Frontier to top Qwest's latest offer. Qwest has bid about
$12 billion for the Rochester, N.Y., local and long-distance phone company, compared with the
$11.1 billion offer Global Crossing made in March. And some investors say they are more
comfortable with Qwest because the Denver-based long-distance company is better established.
"We are not really focusing on comparing," said Mr. Cohrs. "We are focusing on why Global
Crossing and Frontier make sense together."
Global Crossing's shares rose $2.4375, or 6%, to $42.875 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading after
the company also said yesterday that its second-quarter revenue will be $190 million, higher than
expected.
Separately, Global Crossing made a long-awaited Securities and Exchange Commission filing, which
now allows Global Crossing officials to emerge out of a so-called quiet period and aggressively sell
the Frontier deal to investors.
|
