Re: Verizon wins MCI

[Jeff Wheeler <jwheeler () usip org>]

On Feb 14, 2005, at 2:31 PM, Kevin Oberman wrote:

> > Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2005 11:22:36 -0800 (PST)
> > From: "william(at)elan.net" <william () elan net>
> > Sender: owner-nanog () merit edu
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, 14 Feb 2005, Hannigan, Martin wrote:
> >
> > > I was set on QUUest or UUQwest for the new name, too.
> >
> > What, don't you like UUVeriNET even better? :)
> >
> > > Verizon wins the battle for MCI, pays < 7B.
> >
> > I'm not financier, but this price seems rather low considering how 
> > large
> > Worldcom is/used to be and that it includes all former UUNET, MCI, 
> > MFS,
> > WCOM, etc. BTW - did this include Digex as well?
>
> The articles I have read indicate that Verizon was not the best
> offer. Qwest bid $7B. But MCI wanted to be bought by someone who was
> financially stable and Qwest has a huge debt load which the purchase of
> MCI would only increase. They were also looking for a better known
> purchaser and Qwest is not as familiar to the public as Verizon ("Can
> you here me, now?")
>
> To me, it sounds like MCI determined that it could not succeed on its 
> own
> and that "forced" the sale and MCI seemed to want Verizon to buy them
> from the start because of the long-term value to shareholders and bond
> holders, the REAL owners of the company.

Add to that that Verizon also agreed to assume $4B in MCI debts and the 
purchase price doesn't look so low anymore.  Also, despite all the news 
of Qwest's offer, according to what I read Verizon has been in talks 
with MCI for 2 years now, so they probably had a much more detailed 
agreement ironed out to MCI's liking.

--
Jeff Wheeler
Postmaster, Network Admin
US Institute of Peace