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Strategies & Market Trends : Stock Attack II - A Complete Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Haim R. Branisteanu who wrote (38220)	7/21/2002 7:15:46 PM
From: Ron	Respond to of 52237

PHILADELPHIA, July 21 (Reuters) - WorldCom Inc. said it will file Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection later today in the nation's largest insolvency after the long-distance telephone and data services company buckled under a $3.85 billion accounting scandal and a mountain of "junk-rated" debt. "Because we're going to restructure our balance sheet and reduce our debt, we think we can emerge from the Chapter 11 process a stronger and healthier company," WorldCom Chief Executive John Sidgmore said in a telephone interview. WorldCom, which has 85,000 employees and operations in 65 countries, aims to emerge from Chapter 11 in about 9 to 12 months. The company expects to hire a restructuring expert within the next two weeks to aid the current management team. The Chapter 11 filing by WorldCom would follow once high-flying companies like energy trader Enron Corp. and Global Crossing Ltd., which crumbled into bankruptcy amid a crush of accounting investigations by federal regulators. WorldCom last month disclosed it improperly accounted for $3.85 billion in expenses and fired its former chief financial officer, Scott Sullivan, who it alleged orchestrated the accounting debacle. Its former chief executive, Bernie Ebbers, resigned under pressure in April. WorldCom was charged with fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ( news - web sites) and faces lawsuits from several state pension funds, which alleged WorldCom provided misleading information during a 2001 bond offering. WorldCom expects to get so-called debtor-in-possession funding that would allow it to keep operating under a bankruptcy reorganization. The bankruptcy would not include the company's international operations, Sidgmore said.