US West to Talk With Qwest About Buyout Offer
US West Inc. said Thursday that it will start merger talks with Qwest Communications International Inc., which could thwart Global Crossing Ltd.’s $33.9-billion acquisition agreement with US West.
US West said its agreement with Global Crossing is still in effect, and Global Crossing said it approved the talks. US West said it will also talk with Global Crossing to see how Global plans to respond to Qwest’s latest offer of $69 a share, or $40.5 billion.
Qwest Chief Executive Joseph Nacchio raised his offers for local phone company US West and long-distance phone company Frontier Corp. to $54.3 billion in June, after they rejected an earlier proposal, citing concern over a 24% drop in Qwest shares. US West’s move follows Frontier’s agreement Wednesday to start talks with Qwest, and the two decisions could pressure Global to sweeten its offer.
On the New York Stock Exchange, Denver-based US West shares were unchanged at $58.75 and Rochester, N.Y.-based Frontier rose 31 cents to close at $58.94. In Nasdaq trading, Denver-based Qwest rose 31 cents to close at $33.38 and Bermuda-based Global Crossing fell $2.56 to close at $40.
