Qwest not giving up bid for MCI, despite Verizon

DENVER (AP) — Qwest Communications International Inc. said Thursday it will submit another bid for MCI Inc., four days after the long-distance company agreed to be acquired by Verizon Communications Inc. in a $6.7 billion cash and stock deal.

Qwest chairman and CEO Dick Notebaert told the MCI board of directors by letter that Qwest would make a modified offer and hoped that it would lead to new discussions.

Qwest officials are reviewing the details of the proposed Verizon-MCI merger, Notebaert said, but noted that the Verizon proposal was substantially less than the Qwest bid based on public comments this week from MCI president and CEO Michael D. Capellas.

The value to MCI shareholders from 40 percent of the synergies in the Qwest bid would "substantially exceed" the value of synergies under the Verizon bid, Notebaert said.

"To date, we have not received any response from MCI or its advisers on the terms of our Feb. 11 proposal, as reconfirmed on Feb. 13," Notebaert wrote. "If we had received this response, we may have been already able to communicate to you a modified offer that would be beneficial to MCI shareholders."

The letter was contained in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Thursday, and a Qwest spokesman declined immediate comment.

Verizon declined specific comment on the Qwest filing. "The facts are that the MCI board and the (Verizon) board both approved the transaction and there is a signed letter of agreement," spokesman Eric Rabe said in an e-mail.

MCI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.