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To: Anthony Wong who wrote (3716)	1/7/1999 9:06:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 11568

MCI WorldCom not actively pursuing AirTouch-sources (updated version) biz.yahoo.com Thursday January 7, 6:36 pm Eastern Time MCI WorldCom not actively pursuing AirTouch-sources (New throughout) By Jessica Hall NEW YORK, Jan 7 (Reuters) - MCI WorldCom Inc., reportedly in talks to buy AirTouch Communications Inc., is not currently planning to bid for the company, sources familiar with the company said on Thursday. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said no bid had been made and the company is not actively pursuing AirTouch. However, the sources said they could not rule out the possibility that MCI might consider such a bid in the future. USA Today reported on Thursday that MCI WorldCom was considering a bid of more than $55 billion for AirTouch, the world's largest cellular telephone company. ''There's no bid,'' one source said. A bid by MCI WorldCom would create a three-way bidding war for AirTouch. Bell Atlantic Corp., the nation's leading local telephone service provider, and Vodafone Group Plc, a wireless communications company in Britain, are currently in merger talks with AirTouch. MCI WorldCom, the No. 2 U.S. long-distance company, and AirTouch declined to comment. However, Wall Street took note of the report, pushing MCI WorldCom's stock down $4.31 to $74.125 on Nasdaq at mid-afternoon. Shares of companies planning takeovers typically fall when reports emerge. Shares of AirTouch were up $2.875 at $82.75 on the New York Stock Exchange. A bid by MCI WorldCom would not be out of character for its maverick chief executive, Bernie Ebbers, who made headlines in 1997 with a surprise bid for MCI Communications Corp. and ultimately won the company after a three-way bidding war. MCI WorldCom has said in the past it did not see wireless services as a necessary part of its product mix. AirTouch, which serves more than 16 million customers in 13 countries, offers critical and rare assets to each potential suitor, analysts said. Vodafone sees AirTouch as a way to strengthen its European presence and gain entry in the United States, a market it previously shied away from. AirTouch's strength in southern Europe would complement Vodafone's operations in northern Europe. Vodafone held talks 18 months ago to buy AirTouch's European assets, but now it is interested in buying the entire company, a spokesman has said. Mannesmann AG, a German mobile telecommunications company, also has been identified as a potential bidder, but Mannesmann has denied that it plans to bid for AirTouch. AirTouch has partnerships with Bell Atlantic, Vodafone and Mannesmann. For Bell Atlantic, AirTouch offers a fast way to create a national wireless network. Bell Atlantic wants to combine its East Coast network with AirTouch's presence on the West Coast to create a massive network able to compete against the three U.S. wireless companies with nationwide coverage -- AT&T Corp. (NYSE:T - news), Sprint PCS Group (NYSE:PCS - news) and Nextel Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:NXTL - news). Sources close to Bell Atlantic said the company continued to hold talks with AirTouch. Bell Atlantic and Vodafone declined to comment on the status of their talks with AirTouch.