MCI, WorldCom Set To Finalize Deal
September 14, 1998 / 10:48 a.m. ET
By Amy Rogers, Computer Reseller News
Believe it or not, the $30 billion entity
known as MCI WorldCom is one signature
away from existence.
After nearly a year of bureaucratic
haggling and industry scrutiny, the
blockbuster deal is expected to be
formally announced Monday or Tuesday,
according to Uunet CEO John Sidgmore,
who will be vice chairman of the merged
company.
"This is going to be hellzapoppin' from the
beginning," said Sidgmore in an interview
with CRN. "The day we announce this,
whether it is Monday or Tuesday, we are
going to go at this 100 miles an hour."
Sidgmore said he is looking forward to a
cold beer once the ink is dry on the deal.
WorldCom's $37 billion stock and cash
deal for MCI (company profile) is expected
to reshape the telecommunications
landscape in one fell swoop.
Assuming the acquisition is completed in
the next several days, MCI WorldCom is
expected to control more than half of all
Internet traffic.
Sidgmore and other company executives
are preparing to put months worth of
regulatory procedures behind them, then
roll up their sleeves and finish integrating
the myriad networks that are in the
process of being tied together.
"I think it was a lot worse than we
expected," said Sidgmore of the past
year's investigation. "We expected it to be
bad, and it wildly exceeded our
expectations."
Just the same, Sidgmore said he has no
regrets. "We knew all along this was the
right deal. It is one of the few deals in
history where all the press, all the industry
analysts, and all the Wall Street analysts
applauded from the beginning. They could
instantly see the strategic benefits of this
deal," he said. "We never doubted that for
a minute."
The Justice Department approved the
merger only after MCI agreed to sell its
Internet assets to Cable & Wireless for
$1.75 billion.
MCI WorldCom will have 22 million
customers, 70,000 employees, a
presence in more than 200 countries, and
25 percent share of the U.S. long distance
market. |
