wow, if this goes through, no more ATT?
Local phone giant SBC Communications Inc. has agreed to acquire AT&T Corp. for roughly $16 billion in cash and stock, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
Citing sources close to both companies, the newspaper reported on its Web site that the deal had been struck and that boards of both companies were planning votes Sunday afternoon. SBC spokesman Walt Sharp told The Associated Press he had "no information on anything of that nature."
"We do not comment on speculation," Sharp said.
AT&T spokesman Jim Byrnes told the AP the company does not comment on "what we consider to be rumors or speculation about mergers, acquisitions, or other business combinations."
AT&T shareholders would receive about $15 billion in SBC stock, plus a special dividend of $1 billion, the newspaper reported, citing its sources. AT&T Chief Executive David Dorman would become SBC's president, while Edward Whitacre Jr., would remain SBC's chairman and chief executive, the sources said. Dorman would join SBC's board, along with two other director spots for AT&T on the board.
Any such acquisition would be subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.
San Antonio-based SBC is the nation's second-biggest regional phone company, with about 50 million local-telephone customers, mostly in the Midwest and South.
AT&T is a 120-year-old telephone icon once known as Ma Bell that handled the nation's telephone calls before it was broken apart 21 years ago. The Bedminster, N.J.-based company has nearly 30 million long-distance customers.
http://www.forbes.com/technolo...5/01/30/ap1791571.html
