Battle for MCI may not yet be over

The saga of the battle over MCI, which looked to be over after Qwest Communications withdrew from the bidding a week ago, may not really be over just yet.

Qwest said Monday that it would not re-enter the bidding unless MCI shareholders vote against a rival bid from Verizon Communications.

The recent sale by Carlos Slim of his 13 percent of MCI’s shares to Verizon makes this less than likely to happen when MCI shareholders meet to vote on the Verizon offer in June or July.

However, a number of MCI shareholders met with Qwest executives last week to urge Qwest to make another bid for the second-largest long-distance carrier in the United States.

These shareholders believe that an MCI-Qwest merger has better prospects for growth than an MCI-Verizon combination. MCI’s board has endorsed the Verizon bid, though, saying that Verizon has greater financial stability than Qwest, which is a smaller company with considerable debt.

MCI’s board also claims that a number of large business customers have threatened to leave MCI if it accepts a deal with Qwest.

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