Goldman Sachs to Give Refund to WorldCom

Goldman Sachs & Co. has agreed to give back $9.5 million of $13.2 million that WorldCom Inc. paid for financial advice in the weeks before the telecommunications company’s huge bankruptcy filing.

WorldCom hired Goldman in May 2002 to help find new investors, advise on possible mergers with other telecom firms, arrange bankruptcy financing and explore the possible sale of assets and businesses, according to papers filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.

Although WorldCom and Goldman disagree as to whether payments for the advice in mid-2002 were reasonable, the two companies settled the dispute, the filing said.

WorldCom plans to hand ownership to creditors and exit Chapter 11 early next year as MCI Inc., the name of its long-distance telephone unit.

From Bloomberg News