Verizon To Acquire MCI For $6.7 Billion 282
An anonymous reader submits "Even after a last minute offer from Qwest Communications, MCI board members accepted a less lucrative offer from Verizon to be bought for $6.7 billion in cash, stock and dividends. The acquisition comes after Nextel Communications and Sprint Corp. partnered up in a $35 billion deal and SBC Communications Inc. and AT&T Corp. announced a $16 billion merger plan. So, what's next for the telecom industry?"
MCI... (Score:1, Informative)
i'm still pissed that corporate frauds go around, change their name, hide their past and go on business as usual...
Murders and Executions (Score:1, Informative)
Somehow I doubt it will be the employee's...
[INSERT FUD]
The EMPLOYEES will collect the most benifits as in Unemployment...
on a less troll note, doesn't the FCC have to sanction these murders..ur... mergers? I wonder if they will allow all these to go through...
Re:MCI... (Score:5, Informative)
The only time they didn't have MCI in their name was between 2000 and the fraud scandal, which was a pretty short time. So, yeah, they're scum, but they're not really hiding. They're hiding a little, because the scandal is usually associated with WorldCom's name, but if they really wanted to hide their past, they'd come up with a completely new name.
Re:Progress? (Score:3, Informative)
Figures... (Score:5, Informative)
No wires needed : Wireless power is possible too (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/9654/
Nicola Tesla (the inventor of AC power) pioneered a wireless transmission method as well.
Cheers
wrong (Score:4, Informative)
sbl listings for verizon [spamhaus.org]
sbl listings for level 3, which verizon owns [spamhaus.org]
AT&T (Score:3, Informative)
Hmm. Back to square one. Oh well.
differences in offers (Score:3, Informative)
- debt load
- payout schedule
- amount financed through new debt (junk bonds used to be a common component)
- ongoing ability of the buyer to actually pay
and so on. Have a look at the excellent "Barbarians at the Gate" (isbn: 0060536357) to get a feel for what happens. That was an extreme case (RJR/Nabisco), but it brings up a lot of the variables involved.
Re:Why? (Score:3, Informative)
Depends on several things. You're alluding to "Revlon duties", which are imposed by Delaware law and require the board of a company that's on the auction block to get the highest possible short-term shareholder value in the sale.
For one, it depends on the governing law and the structure of the deal. Revlon duties are part of Delaware corporate law; many states have "constituency" laws that affirmatively do not impose Revlon-type duties on the board (requiring a board to look at *non-shareholder* interests as well as shareholder interests in reviewing a merger deal).
Also, not all mergers will trigger Revlon duties; e.g., an all stock merger of equals between widely owned public companies would probably not trigger Revlon. With those kinds of mergers, boards are free to and should look at the long-term value (strategic or otherwise) of a merger, as well as its short-term impact. This could include the acquirer's growth prospects, stability, etc. (Dunno what the MCI/Qwest deal is; I know, RTFA...)
Also, if there are Revlon duties, shareholder value isn't *necessarily* all about the amount of money involved, though you have the right intuition that the amount of money is the dominant factor. It's pretty risky for board with Revlon duties to take a deal when there are competing higher dollar value offers, but other significant short-term factors could justify taking the smaller deal.
Re:Merger Madness (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Merger Madness (Score:2, Informative)
Apparently, you don't understand capitalism as much as you claim to. The concept of the "invisible hand" rests upon the existence of open competition. As cartel members start acquiring one another, this open competition vanishes, and the result is a controlled market (That is to say, lower quality and higher prices to consumers).
But don't take my word for it, listen to the founder of American capitalism, Adam Smith [amazon.com]
verizon does not own level 3 (Score:2, Informative)
You don't know what you're talking about, moron. (Score:3, Informative)
The "gentleman's agreements" you mention, which all of the MSOs will deny to avoid the Sherman act, mean that nobody else will bid for the franchise, so the city/county is hosed, and has to renew. It's really just a game of brinksmanship.
Now, the Viacom overbuild in Milwaukee is a mutation. There have been others. RCN overbuilds wherever they go. SBC (then Pacific Bell) tried it in San Jose because the incumbent MSO had totally ignored upgrades for years. They lost money on it and ended up selling it to the operator they were trying to displace.
I worked in cable for five years. I know whereof I speak.