Verizon Communications Inc threatened to abandon its US$7.51 billion bid for MCI Inc if directors of MCI decide a competing offer from Qwest Communications International Inc is better.
Verizon, the US' largest local-telephone carrier, is turning up pressure on MCI, the No. 2 US long-distance phone operator, which had until yesterday to make a ruling on the US$8.94 billion proposal from Denver-based Qwest.
The ultimatum suggests New York-based Verizon won't sweeten its bid, raised to US$23.10 a share last month amid complaints by MCI's top shareholders including Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim and persistence by Qwest, the fourth-largest US local-phone carrier. MCI directors snubbed Qwest's earlier offers to ally with a company they said would form a stronger partner.
"The board has a tough choice," said Paul Wright, an analyst at Boston-based Loomis Sayles & Co, which manages about US$65 billion in assets, including Verizon and Qwest shares. "If they go with Verizon, they've got a fight on their hands. If they go with Qwest, time will tell if it's a good move."
Ashburn, Virginia-based MCI, which said on March 29 it would be bought by Verizon, last week resumed talks with Qwest after the fourth increase in Qwest's terms in a seven-week takeover battle.
A decision in Qwest's favor would show "the decision-making process is being driven by the interests of short-term investors rather than the company's long-term strength and viability," New York-based Verizon said a statement. "Should this occur, we would no longer be interested in participating in such a process."
Verizon could still force a shareholder vote if MCI deems Qwest's proposal superior. Under the agreement with MCI, Verizon can compel MCI to ask its investors to vote on its offer alone.
That would wrest control of the takeover from MCI directors and delay any payout for investors who want MCI to be sold to Qwest.
Qwest last week derided that agreement as a "dubious example of corporate governance" that cedes MCI's right to end the Verizon deal for a better offer. Qwest said it would withdraw the offer if MCI doesn't respond by later yesterday.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique