British Telecom, AT&T May Merge Mobile Units, Paper Reports
--From AOL. Two dinosaurs mating before the asteroid hits.--
Cooters
London, Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- British Telecommunications Plc and AT&T Corp. may combine their mobile-phone businesses, though the companies aren't discussing a full merger, the Financial Mail on Sunday reported, citing BT Chief Executive Sir Peter Bonfield.
A plan to combine and create a mobile phone company to rival Vodafone Group Plc, the world's largest, has been considered, the paper said, citing Bonfield.
British Telecommunications Plc, under pressure to regain market share at home and revive its lagging shares, is considering selling itself, possibly to AT&T Corp., a person familiar with the situation said Friday.
Bonfield has discussed a possible merger with AT&T Chairman Michael Armstrong, the Wall Street Journal earlier reported. The person said the contacts might not lead to serious merger negotiations.
``Are we in merger discussions? No -- that's as clear as I can make it,'' Bonfield told the Financial Mail.
AT&T's U.S. presence and BT's market share in Europe would work to the companies' advantage, the newspaper said.
``Anything is possible,'' Bonfield said when asked about a merger of mobile phone operations.
AT&T and BT have a combined 26 million mobile phone subscribers, which would make it the world's third-biggest wireless operator.
(Financial Mail on Sunday 8/20 P. 1)
Aug/20/2000 4:03 ET |
