AT&T Seeks Formal Approval for Merger

AT&T SEEKS FORMAL APPROVAL FOR MERGER
[SOURCE: WOIA-TV San Antonio, AUTHOR: Walker Robinson]
On Friday, AT&T and BellSouth formally asked the Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission to approve their $67 billion deal, which was announced March 5. Approval requests also were being filed in the states where they do business, and shareholders, too, will have to give their nod for San Antonio-based AT&T's purchase of Atlanta-based BellSouth to be completed. The two companies hope to close the deal by March 2007. In their FCC filing, the companies argue that joint ownership of Cingular Wireless has caused challenges in managing the nation's largest cell phone provider that would disappear if its parent companies were allowed to merge. They also noted that the merger would provide efficiencies for the combined company. A day after the deal was announced, AT&T said it plans to cut up to 10,000 jobs, mostly through normal turnover, if its purchase of BellSouth is approved. The work force reduction would take place over three years.
http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=7AB92C93-9D7A-49AE-AAC7-1353908A331F