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To: ANANT who wrote (2584)	6/12/1998 6:46:00 AM
From: Teddy	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 11568

Excerpts from a Wall Street Urinal article from late yesterday: WorldCom's Ebbers "Absolutely Not" In Fear For MCI Deal Dow Jones Newswires -- June 11, 1998 By Shawn Young NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--WorldCom Inc. (WCOM) Chief Executive Bernard J. Ebbers told Dow Jones Thursday he remains confident that WorldCom and MCI Communications Corp. (MCIC) will be able to satisfy regulators' concerns about their proposed merger. Ebbers said he is "absolutely not" worried about the deal falling apart as the deadline approaches for a critical recommendation from the European Commission, which is concerned that the combined company will have a stranglehold on the Internet pipeline. European regulators who have suggested the simplest solution to their concerns would be the sale of WorldCom's Internet unit, UUNet, don't understand that UUNet isn't a standalone operation that could be cleanly cut out of WorldCom, Ebbers said..... ... Ebbers said the sale of the unit isn't on the negotiating table. "Absolutely not," he said. "It never has been." "It is not a solution we would consider," he added.... ... As MCI reportedly considers selling other Internet assets to appease regulators, WorldCom officials are going out of their way to assure investors that the deal is safe, said a person familiar with the situation. Ebbers said he has been personally returning some messages left for the company's investor relations director while he is out of town. At a conference in New York Thursday, a company official gave investors assurances that WorldCom will do what it takes to gain approval of the deal, said a person who attended the session. However, the person said, UUNet is clearly over the line. One professional investor who asked not to be identified said the company is eager to reassure investors so its stock does not fall below $41 as the anticipated closing date approaches. If the average WorldCom share price in the 20 days before closing falls below $41, the acquisition will be more dilutive for WorldCom than if the price stayed above 41.... ... "We are confident that the merger issues will get resolved in the coming days, with the EU issuing its tacit (if not official) approval of the merger by mid-next week," Governali said.

To: ANANT who wrote (2584)	6/12/1998 12:24:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 11568

MCI Tells U.S. Regulators of Divestiture Plan in WorldCom Buy Bloomberg News June 12, 1998, 7:26 a.m. PT MCI Tells U.S. Regulators of Divestiture Plan in WorldCom Buy Washington, June 12 (Bloomberg) -- MCI Communications Corp. Chairman Bert Roberts Jr. met with U.S. antitrust enforcers and offered to sell more Internet assets to win approval of its $40.2 billion acquisition by WorldCom Inc., a company official said. MCI, the No. 2 U.S. long-distance telephone company, has agreed to sell its wholesale Internet business to Cable & Wireless Plc for $625 million in cash. EU regulatory chief Karel Van Miert called that plan inadequate because it fails to assure that WorldCom-MCI won't dominate the business of carrying Internet traffic across a central network known as the backbone. Van Miert said the European Union 's concerns about the combination are shared by U.S. regulators, both of whom must grant their approval before the acquisition can be completed. An EU advisory committee plans to make a recommendation next week to give the EU time to meet a July 15 deadline for acting on the transaction. Roberts met late Wednesday with Justice Department antitrust chief Joel Klein to outline the company's intentions to sell more Internet assets, said the company official. The Justice Department, following standard practice, is seeking an agreement from MCI to identify the assets it would sell as a condition for winning approval of the acquisition, the company official said. Cable & Wireless sued MCI this week, accusing the long- distance company of reneging on its promise to give Cable & Wireless the first opportunity to bid on additional MCI Internet assets. Offers to sell these assets to other companies would result in ''immediate, severe, and irreparable harm to Cable & Wireless,'' the lawsuit said. Besides Cable & Wireless, potential bidders for MCI's Internet businesses include AT&T Corp., Sprint Corp., GTE Corp., and PSINet Inc., analysts said. Van Miert said it would be difficult technologically for MCI to divest its Internet assets because they are intertwined with the company's long-distance service. Van Miert suggested it would be easier for WorldCom to divest its recently acquired UUnet Technologies Inc. But WorldCom President Bernard Ebbers said UUNet is ''absolutely not'' for sale. ''It is no more a stand-alone unit than MCI Internet is,'' Ebbers said. ''''UUnet is about eight times bigger than MCI Internet.'' Ebbers said there ''are continuing discussions with the EU and the DOJ.'' MCI shares rose 1/16 to 48 11/16 in mid-morning trading. WorldCom fell 1/8 to 42 1/8. Cable & Wireless fell 12.5 pence to 672.5p. --James Rowley in Washington at 202-624-1913 with reporting by