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Technology Stocks : WCOM -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MGV who wrote (2706)	6/22/1998 3:36:00 PM
From: Caxton Rhodes	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 11568

Supercarrier Nears Freedom as EU Approves WorldCom-MCI Merger By Alison Jahncke at Bloomberg News 22-JUN-98 European Union regulators agreed to approve WorldCom Inc.'s proposed $43.7 billion purchase of MCI Communications Corp. after MCI addressed all remaining questions about its offer to sell its Internet business. ÿÿÿÿÿÿ "Everything has been addressed," said a spokesman for EU Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert, adding that negotiations between WorldCom, MCI and commission officials have ended. He wouldn't comment on the details of the agreement reached with the companies or on whether MCI named a buyer for its Internet business. ÿÿÿÿÿÿ An EU official close to the negotiations said Friday regulators would approve the acquisition within days if MCI made some final assurances it won't re-absorb its Internet customers from the company that buys its Internet business. ÿÿÿÿÿÿ The commission, the EU's executive agency, will give its formal approval on July 8, the spokesman said. The clearance will bring MCI and WorldCom one step closer to completing the purchase later this summer, creating the second-largest US phone company and a stronger competitor to No. 1 AT&T Corp. ÿÿÿÿÿÿ MCI agreed earlier this month to sell all its Internet assets, after its proposed sale of its wholesale Internet business to Cable & Wireless Plc failed to satisfy EU concerns. MCI's earlier agreement with Cable & Wireless only included MCI's wholesale clients and not business and consumer Internet customers. ÿÿÿÿÿÿ The combined MCI-WorldCom will control about a quarter of the $70 billion-a-year US long-distance market and offer local services in more than 100 cities. ÿÿÿÿÿÿ EU antitrust officials' decision to approve the acquisition, which was backed on Friday by a committee of competition officials from the 15 EU countries, will need approval by the 20-member commission. ÿÿÿÿÿÿ EU officials have been working in tandem with US Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission officials, who also must approve the purchase. ÿÿÿÿÿÿ Analysts and investors expect approval from the Justice Department to come soon after a go-ahead from the EU.

To: MGV who wrote (2706)	6/22/1998 4:44:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 11568

WCOM hit a 52-week high at 47-5/8 today. We'll likely see $55 by July 8.

To: MGV who wrote (2706)	6/22/1998 8:25:00 PM
From: Carter Patterson	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 11568

I am pleased to read that they have hooked up 40,000 buildings on their own network and can avoid access charges and other highway bandits. The latest Forbes has a negative article on the merger, essentially saying that the latest companies such as Qwest and Level 3 will have a cost advantage over a combined MCI/WCOM. The article talks about some of MCI's old networks and facilities needing expensive upgrading. The article does not give any credit for the huge MCI customer base and marketing organization, which is what WCOM wants to plug into their system. I doubt if the newcomers can assemble such an array of assets, technical expertise and marketing organization on the scale of MCI/WCOM in a reasonable time frame.