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Technology Stocks : Global Crossing - GX (formerly GBLX) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Teddy who wrote (1311)	7/12/1999 7:51:00 AM
From: John Carragher	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 15615

Global Crossing Officials Are Expected To Reassure Investors on Frontier Bid By STEPHANIE N. MEHTA and REBECCA BLUMENSTEIN Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Global Crossing Ltd. executives are expected to take to the road this week to assure investors that its proposed acquisition of telephone company Frontier Corp. is alive and well, despite a higher competing bid from Qwest Communications International Inc. Global Crossing, which has been in a so-called quiet period that restricts its discussions related to the Frontier deal, is expected to file the necessary documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission that will allow those restrictions to be eased, according to people familiar with the situation. Executives of Global Crossing, an undersea cable operator, are expected then to meet with investors to address concerns about the transaction and buoy confidence about the company's overall outlook. Global Crossing, based in Hamilton, Bermuda, agreed in March to acquire Frontier for $63 a share, or about $11.1 billion. But on June 13, rival Qwest, a long-distance telephone company based in Denver, made an unsolicited competing offer to buy Frontier for $68 a share, or nearly $12 billion. Frontier, based in Rochester, N.Y., has entered negotiations with Qwest. Global Crossing and Qwest also are fighting over which will get to buy U S West Inc., the Denver-based Bell operating company. But for Global Crossing, Frontier is emerging as the first critical acquisition that it needs to win. Investors, fearing that Global Crossing will have to raise its bid for Frontier, have driven down the value of Global Crossing stock to $40.4375, off 20% since Qwest made its competing offer for Frontier a month ago. Executives of Global Crossing now are seeking to win back shareholder support. The company, for example, is expected to emphasize its "last look" privileges, which would give Global Crossing time to respond to any potential Qwest-Frontier deal. People familiar with the situation said Global Crossing would be unlikely to raise its bid any time before then. Even while Qwest has been negotiating with Frontier, people close to the situation say that Robert Annunziata, Global Crossing's chief executive officer, has met regularly with Joseph Clayton, Frontier's CEO, to discuss plans to integrate the two companies. These people say such plans remain firmly on track and haven't been disrupted by Qwest's unsolicited bids. Global Crossing executives also are expected to emphasize the strategic benefit of the Frontier combination. Frontier, which operates a fiber-optic long-distance network in the U.S., gives Global Crossing a domestic foothold. Global Crossing is building undersea and land-based networks throughout the world but lacks a network in the U.S. The bigger challenge for Global Crossing may be winning support for a merger with U S West, which is also the target of a competing bid from Qwest. Many shareholders balked at Global Crossing's offer for U S West, which called for the creation of two tracking stocks and a power-sharing arrangement between Global Crossing and U S West executives. The Qwest bid for U S West, for $69 a share, or about $35 billion, tops Global Crossing's current offer of about 1.3 shares of Global Crossing for every share of U S West, or about $29 billion. Negotiations between Qwest and U S West continued over the weekend. Some analysts and investors continue to speculate that the two companies may come to an agreement in which Global Crossing successfully completes its purchase of Frontier, and Qwest wins U S West.