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Strategies & Market Trends : The Thread Formerly Known as No Rest For The Wicked -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ivan who wrote (64069)	10/5/1999 1:51:00 AM
From: Dolfan	Respond to of 90042

Give it a rest already! Looks like Sprint deal is done! Sprint accepts $115 bln bid from MCI-sources By Robin Sidel NEW YORK, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Sprint Corp. has accepted a takeover bid worth a total of $115 billion from rival MCI WorldCom Inc. , setting the world's largest-ever corporate merger, financial and industry sources familiar with the deal said. The bid is worth $76 per share, or $77 billion, for the shares representing only Westwood, Kan.-based Sprint's core telephone long-distance business, the sources said. The $115 billion price tag includes the equity portion of the long-distance business of Sprint, the United States' No. 3 long-distance telephone company, as well as its PCS Group subsidiary, which trades as a separate tracking stock, the sources said. The deal, which is expected to be announced early Tuesday, came together after MCI WorldCom, the second biggest U.S. long-distance telephone company, sweetened an earlier offer following a rival bid from regional Bell BellSouth Corp., the sources said. The deal is expected to undergo intense regulatory scrutiny. The union of the two powerful companies will create a formidable competitor to industry leader AT&T Corp. and would control about 32 percent of the U.S. long-distance telephone market. It is the latest blockbuster deal for MCI WorldCom boss Bernard Ebbers, who stunned the telecommunications industry by engineering WorldCom's $40 billion acquisition of MCI, which closed in September 1998. WORLD'S PRICIEST MERGER It is the priciest merger ever, eclipsing Exxon Corp.'s planned $80 billion purchase of rival Mobil Corp. , and the $72 billion deal between Baby Bell operators SBC Communications Inc. and Ameritech Corp. . Both of those deals are still undergoing regulatory scrutiny. Clinton, Miss.-based MCI WorldCom also has agreed to pay a $5 billion premium to acquire the PCS wireless unit, the sources said. The premium consists of additional shares of WorldCom worth 0.1547 of a WorldCom share, or about $11, for each PCS share. The Sprint board voted to accept the offer after a late Monday meeting to discuss the MCI WorldCom and BellSouth bids. A Sprint spokesman declined to comment. MCI WorldCom and BellSouth could not be reached for comment. The transaction also calls for the assumption of $14 billion in Sprint debt. Unlike an earlier offer, it includes a mechanism called a "collar" to protect Sprint from volatility in MCI WorldCom's stock price. The management structure of the combined company could not immediately be determined. It also was not clear if Sprint executives would be given seats on the MCI WorldCom board. MCI WORLDCOM BEATS BELLSOUTH MCI WorldCom had been negotiating a deal with Sprint for weeks, but the potential transaction between the two became complicated over the weekend when Atlanta-based BellSouth stepped into the fray with a cash and stock bid of its own. One of the sources said BellSouth sweetened that offer Monday afternoon by adding a larger cash component and raising the bid for the PCS unit when it became apparent that Sprint was still favouring the MCI WorldCom offer. The enhanced bid from BellSouth then triggered the higher bid from MCI WorldCom. It was not immediately clear if BellSouth would now remove itself from the bidding contest. Also unclear was the future role of Deutsche Telekom AG and France Telecom , each of which hold a 10 percent stake in Sprint. On Monday, Wall Street analysts said an MCI WorldCom-Sprint combination would create a strong strategic fit as it battled AT&T. Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette analyst Richard Klugman estimated some $2 billion in cost savings could be wrung out of a potential union. Shares of Sprint rose 3 to 60 in Monday trading on the New York Stock Exchange. MCI WorldCom gained 1- to 71- on Nasdaq and BellSouth lost 2- to 42-11/16 on the NYSE. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. SPRINT CORP(FON GROUP) - FON Price 60 7/8 Net Change +3 7/8 Volume (000) 14047 Day High 61 3/16 Day Low 58 9/16 MCI WORLDCOM - WCOM Price 71 5/8 Net Change +1 1/8 Volume (000) 15093 Day High 72 Day Low 70 1/2 SPRINT CORP(PCS GRP) - PCS Price 78 11/16 Net Change +3 3/16 Volume (000) 1801 Day High 79 1/4 Day Low 77 as of 10/05/99 01:46 AM EDT Only $9.99 per trade. Ameritrade. Believe in yourself

To: Ivan who wrote (64069)	10/5/1999 7:02:00 AM
From: terri acey	Respond to of 90042

I lurk mostly on this thread, but I had to post this morning to just ask Ivan, who cares where Tim is, what flight he took,etc? Can't you just let him enjoy his vacation and post from wherever and whenever? Geezzzzzz.... I don't think it matters to anyone if he is posting from his house and says he is in the Galapagos Islands....so what? back to lurking....

To: Ivan who wrote (64069)	10/5/1999 7:45:00 AM
From: Captain Jack	Respond to of 90042

Ivan -- Frankly, my pal,,, no one gives a damn!

To: Ivan who wrote (64069)	10/5/1999 7:59:00 AM
From: Stuart T	Respond to of 90042

Ivan: As you can see we don't care where Tim is and the specifics of his travels. We hope he has a good time wherever he is and comes back soon. What has Tim done to you that you have to pester him? He doesn't owe you anything and he doesn't owe any of us anything. If you don't like his posts or what he has to say, don't read them.