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MCI to join Comcast bid?
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May 4, 1999: 5:05 a.m. ET
Report: Comcast lines up AT&T rival MCI WorldCom in battle for MediaOne
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LONDON (CNNfn) - MCI WorldCom is the latest candidate to consider joining Comcast Corp. in its multi-billion dollar battle with AT&T to acquire cable operator MediaOne, according to a published report Tuesday.
MCI WorldCom, AT&T's main rival in the U.S. telecom market, was close to signing a confidentiality agreement with Comcast Monday night, the New York Times reported Tuesday, citing executives close to the deal.
But the paper quoted the same sources as saying that MCI had still to decide whether to proceed.
Time is short for Comcast (CMCSA) management, which must come up with a new bid before Friday under the terms of its original deal with MediaOne (UMG). On Sunday, the cable company accepted the unsolicited $58 billion bid from AT&T in preference to Comcast's $53 billion offer.
Sources told CNNfn that Comcast has already lost the support of American Online (AOL), which does not want enter the fray against AT&T (T) alone. MCI shares similar misgivings, according to the newspaper report.
But the sources said a three-way bidding consortium could yet emerge if MCI commits to the deal, as that might help pull AOL back in.
The same sources were cited by the U.S. daily as saying that Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder, Paul Allen had decided not to join the Comcast camp.
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