If that doesn't help tomorrow, i think we will need a lot of patience:
Guess who has AT&T partnered with to upgrade infrastructure and create broadband to the home? GIC, and the DCT-5000 is the biggest part of it, and people still view ATI as a PC only company, wake up this is getting HUGE. JMO :-)
AT&T on MediaOne bid: What a deal!
By Charles Cooper, ZDNN
April 22, 1999 5:20 PM PT
URL: zdnet.com
AT&T Corp. CEO Michael Armstrong said Thursday his company's $58
billion bid should be enough to pry MediaOne away from Comcast Corp.
-- and discounted suggestions that it might turn into a hostile
takeover.
Earlier Thursday AT&T (NYSE:T), the No. 1 long-distance telephone company, launched another major foray into cable TV Thursday with its cash and stock offer, in an attempt to break up MediaOne's Nasdaq:UMG) proposed merger with Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq:CMCSA).
"We're willing to pay 17 percent more than Comcast," Armstrong said during an interview on CNN.
"I think it is a fair price. We can get that value out of that investment and the reason we can get that -- maybe uniquely -- out of that investment is that we're carrying the AT&T brand."
AT&T, which recently acquired Tele-Communications Inc. for $55 billion, has been searching for a way to bypass regional phone companies to find its own connection directly to customers' homes and
businesses.
"It's just so strategic to us," Armstrong said. "The locations are in the right places -- the Chicagos, the Bostons, the Detroits, the St. Paul-Minnesotas; L.A., Miami."
He said that AT&T had been eyeing Comcast for some time -- including the period when it was closing its deal for TCI. However, Armstrong added AT&T chose not to remain pat until the TCI deal was closed in order not to influence federal approval of the acquisition.
Armstrong also dismissed a suggestion that AT&T would need to pursue a hostile takeover should Comcast spurn the offer. "We're not crossing that bridge yet," he said.
AT&T said a merger between the companies would accelerate the delivery of broadband video, voice and data services.
I think he's talking of the DCT-5000 again
gi.com
Comcast bid
MediaOne in March agreed to be acquired by Comcast, the No. 4 cable systems operator, in a deal currently valued at $44 billion, based on Comcast's closing stock price on Thursday.
Comcast is the majority owner of QVC and E! Entertainment cable channels, and owns the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team and Philadelphia 76ers basketball team.
Comcast and MediaOne, which was formerly part of Baby Bell US West Inc., could not be immediately reached for comment.
AT&T's proposed purchase of MediaOne, in addition to its recent acquisition of TCI and its joint venture with Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX), would allow AT&T to provide phone and Internet services
directly to customers over the cable companies' networks.
Stock price rises
MediaOne's stock soared in after-hours trading after AT&T's offer was announced. MediaOne traded at $82 in the post-session, up $12.50 from the regular close. AT&T traded at $57 on the Instinet broker system, in line with the regular close.
"It's a huge, huge deal. It's all about bandwidth, it's all about Internet access, (and) MediaOne certainly is the front-runner in realizing bandwidth is important,'' said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co.
Hogan predicted the bid would accelerate consolidation in the industry and predicted other stocks would get a bounce, including Cox Communications Inc., Cablevision Systems Corp. and Jones Intercable.
''These things tend to feed on themselves,'' Hogan said.
AT&T's grand plan AT&T plans to divest non-strategic MediaOne assets currently valued at about $18 billion to $20 billion. AT&T also plans to continue its aggressive efforts to reduce its operating expenses by an additional $2 billion by the end of the 2000.
The majority of the expense reductions will apply to network costs, general, and administrative expenses, lower access fees paid to local exchange companies for handling long-distance calls, and more streamlined operations and systems.
Additional savings in the range of at least $175 to $200 million will result from saving in combining the former TCI and MediaOne cable operations.
AT&T expects the deal to damp profits by about 30 cents in the first full year of combined operation, resulting from additional shares outstanding and the cost of financing. After the purchase of
MediaOne, cash earnings -- or net income per share plus acquisition good will -- will decline by less than 10 cents per share.
AT&T said the acquisition over time would accelerate earnings, cash flow and revenue growth. It also will reduce the percentage of AT&T's revenues that come from slower-growth businesses such as consumer long-distance service.
AT&T said it believed the deal could be completed by the end of 1999. AT&T said it anticipated no difficulty in arranging financing for the cash portion of its offer and expected to have $30 billion of financing in place by April 30.
Chase Manhattan Bank and Goldman Sachs Credit Partners L.P. already have each committed to provide $5 billion of the financing.
Reuters contributed to this report. |
