TMCnet News
SBC Gets Final Clearance, Closes AT&T AcquisitionBy ROBERT LIU
TMCnet Wireless and Technology Columnist SBC Communications on Friday closed its acquisition of AT&T Corp. after California regulators give the companies the final thumbs-up, the companies announced.
As a result of the completion, the combined company as planned will adopt the AT&T identity. Effective December 1, the company will begin trading under AT&T’s legendary ticker symbol "T" on the New York Stock Exchange. In addition, a new corporate logo will be unveiled on Monday, Nov. 21, the company's first full day of operation as the new AT&T.
“We are ready to meet the needs of a new generation of customers in a new era of communications and entertainment,” said Edward E. Whitacre Jr., chairman and CEO of AT&T. “The combination of SBC and AT&T companies gives us the local, global, and wireless network resources and the expertise to set the standard for delivering meaningful innovations and making the promise of integrated communications and entertainment a reality for consumers and businesses.” Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T will be the largest telecommunications company in the United States, leading in the areas of high-speed DSL Internet services, local and long-distance voice services and data services to the Fortune 1000. The new AT&T will also own 60 percent of Cingular Wireless.
The completion of the merger is the culmination of an extensive 10-month review process. SBC announced its intentions to adopt the AT&T identity back on October 27 – on the same day the Justice Department cleared the SBC’s $16 billion deal as well as Verizon’s $8.5 billion bid to buy MCI based on antitrust concerns. The Federal Communications Commission also cleared the transaction on October 31.
Separately, the California Public Utilities Commission also signed off on the Verizon-MCI transaction. However, that transaction won’t close until “next month or very early in January,” the company said in its press statement.
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Robert Liu is Executive Editor at TMCnet. Previously, he was Executive Editor at Jupitermedia and has also written for CNN, A&E, Dow Jones and Bloomberg. For more articles, please visit Robert Liu's columnist page.
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