SBC Communications is close to completing a $16 billion deal for Momma Bell, AT&T, that would eliminate an icon of American industry.

The Washington Post states:

“An agreement would cap weeks of negotiations and would end AT&T’s 128-year reign as the nation’s best-known phone company. If the deal meets with regulatory approval, the combined companies would eclipse Verizon Communications Inc., with 60 million residential consumers, millions of business customers, and more than $70 billion in combined annual revenue.”

The NY Times elaborates …

“The boards from both companies met for hours yesterday trying to complete the deal after several days of talks. In buying AT&T, its national network and three million corporate customers, SBC can aggressively expand into the turf of its regional Bell siblings, who themselves are grappling for ways to move beyond their borders.

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AT&T, the former monopoly, has been undone by cheaper Internet technology, growth in a cellphone industry where it has no role, and regulatory changes that squeezed it out of the local phone market.”

MarketWatch adds:

“Under the terms of the deal, AT&T shareholders would receive SBC shares valued at about $15 billion, as well as another $1 billion in the form of a special dividend. SBC Chairman and Chief Executive Edward Whitacre Jr. would remain in his current position, while AT&T Chief Executive David Dorman would become president. AT&T would get three seats on the new company’s board, including one for Dorman.”

If the boards approve the deal, it could be announced as early as Monday.

Murdok | Breaking eBusiness News
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