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

To: isdsms who wrote (1354)	7/16/1999 8:24:00 AM
From: John Carragher	Respond to of 15615

The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition -- July 16, 1999 Tech Center Qwest, U S West Intensify Talks On Telecommunications Merger By REBECCA BLUMENSTEIN and STEPHANIE N. MEHTA Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL NEW YORK -- Talks between Qwest Communications International Inc. and U S West Inc. have intensified and may be nearing conclusion, according to people familiar with the situation. While many issues remain to be ironed out before the two sides reach a definitive agreement, these people said that momentum is building for a pact that could be reached over the next several days, although the two could still walk away. Qwest, a Denver-based long-distance carrier, is offering about $35 billion to break up the agreement that U S West, the Denver-based Bell operating company, has reached to merge with Global Crossing Ltd. In what has turned into a protracted takeover battle, Qwest has also launched an unsolicited $12 billion bid to buy Frontier Corp., which in March agreed to merge with the Bermuda-based Global Crossing, an undersea-cable operator. Qwest's latest bids are financially superior to those offered by Global Crossing. But it appears that Global Crossing could emerge with Frontier, a phone company based in Rochester, N.Y., while Qwest could win U S West. "I think that's probably the optimal solution for shareholders of Qwest and shareholders of Global Crossing," said Eric Strumingher, an analyst with PaineWebber Group Inc. According to people familiar with the situation, the talks between Qwest and U S West have touched on a range of issues. These include concerns about whether Qwest would offer a dividend and the possibility of structuring the deal as a merger rather than a takeover. A U S West spokesman confirmed the talks are proceeding. Qwest declined to comment. Global Crossing officials, meanwhile, spent the week promoting their proposed acquisition of Frontier, a local and long-distance telephone company. Those discussions with investors, coupled with an announcement that the company expects to post better-than-expected revenue, have pushed Global Crossing shares up 8% this week. Global Crossing shares rose 31.25 cents to close at $44 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading Thursday.