MCI To Sell More Assets?

MCI could be willing to ante up more assets than just its Internet backbone to make the $37 billion WorldCom merger happen, the company said late last week. After meeting with Department of Justice antitrust chief Joel Klein, MCI chairman Bert Roberts reportedly offered to sell additional MCI Internet assets to accelerate the deal. MCI late last month agreed to sell its Internet backbone and wholesale access customers to Cable & Wireless for $625 million, but keep its business and consumer dial-up customers. DOJ officials said they would probably approve the merger if the companies committed to sell either MCI's or WorldCom's entire Internet businesses. WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers has said that selling his Uunet Technologies Internet access company was out of the question. Cable & Wireless last week also filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Washington, D.C., as a preventive measure to make sure the MCI backbone deal goes through.