US telecoms giants move closer in bid battle

Despite turning down a bid of $8.93 billion ($27.50 per share), MCI has said that they are willing to continue talking to Qwest Communications about a merger if Qwest is willing to bid $30.00 per share.

Qwest has indicated, however, that they are not willing to bid that high at the present time.

Meanwhile, MCI has signed an agreement with Verizon Communications, which offered a lesser amount than Qwest in a merger bid.

MCI has indicated that one of the reasons they turned down the Qwest offer is that their shareholders had negative feelings about that deal.

Some MCI shareholders have disputed that reasoning, however, and have vowed to vote against the Verizon offer if and when it is put to a vote of the shareholders.

Qwest, meanwhile, has announced that they will pursue the merger with MCI by either raising their bid to as much as $9.4 billion (between $28.50 and $29.00 per share), or by taking either their current bid or a revised bid directly to MCI shareholders, some of whom have expressed a preference for the Quest deal.

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