NEW YORK, April 1 -- MCI Inc. invited Qwest Communications International Inc. to reopen merger talks Friday, just three days after the long-distance phone company agreed to a sweetened $7.65 billion buyout from Verizon Communications Inc. and a day after Qwest raised its bid to nearly $9 billion.
Qwest dismissed the gesture as disingenuous and repeated a deadline of Tuesday for MCI to accept or reject its offer. The Denver-based company noted that when MCI agreed to the new Verizon deal on Tuesday, it notified Qwest that there was no need for additional discussions.
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"Therefore, it is questionable what additional information the MCI Board would require at this time," Qwest said in a news release, which also criticized MCI for agreeing to new provisions in the Verizon deal that hamper MCI's ability to terminate that contract in favor of a superior proposal. "We urge the MCI Board to cease its favoritism . . . and run a fair, transparent, complete and timely sales process."
MCI's stock price rose for a fourth straight session on Friday -- to a level nearly 10 percent higher than the price Verizon has agreed to pay -- as investors again speculated that either Verizon will be forced to boost its bid again, or that Qwest might pull off an upset in the two-month tussle.
But rather than bidding higher, Verizon could try to halt the bidding by triggering a provision in its agreement with MCI that would require a straight vote by MCI shareholders on the current deal.
"We may ask for a vote at some point and have that right under our agreement of [March 29], but have not yet. No comment on whether we will," Verizon spokesman Eric Rabe said by e-mail.
Shares of MCI rose 39 cents to close at $25.29 in Friday trading on the Nasdaq National Market. Verizon shares fell 31 cents to close at $35.19 on the New York Stock Exchange, while Qwest shares slipped 6 cents to close at $3.64 on the NYSE.
