SBC May Sell Lines to Help Fund Wireless Bid
From Bloomberg News
SBC Communications Inc., majority owner of Cingular Wireless, may sell telephone lines valued at about $1.5 billion to help fund Cingular’s purchase of AT&T; Wireless Services Inc., people familiar with the matter said.
Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. were hired to seek bidders for about 500,000 lines, the people said. A sale, which would cover SBC customers mainly in rural Texas and Michigan, isn’t imminent, they said.
SBC and BellSouth Corp., which owns 40% of Cingular, have agreed to buy AT&T; Wireless for $41 billion in cash.
Shares of SBC rose 24 cents to $24.25 on the NYSE.
