Qwest boosts offer for MCI

DENVER — Qwest Communications International Inc. boosted its offer for MCI Inc. to $8.94 billion Thursday, adding $500 million to its bid to wrest the long-distance phone company away from Verizon Communications Inc.

The latest offer, delivered two days after MCI agreed to a sweetened $7.51 billion deal with Verizon, was equal to $27.50 per MCI share.

It also boosted the cash portion of the offer to $13.50, or $4.4 billion, while offering additional protection against a decline in the Qwest shares being used for the balance of the payment. Qwest’s prior bid of $25.60 per share included $10.10 in cash, or a total of $3.3 billion.

Qwest CEO Richard Notebaert set a Monday deadline for the board to respond before the offer would be withdrawn.

Soon after the new Qwest bid was disclosed, The Wall Street Journal reported that Verizon was exercising its right to hold a vote by MCI investors on the merger before a special shareholder meeting scheduled in May for that purpose. Verizon spokesman Eric Rabe declined comment.

MCI spokesman Peter Lucht said the board will review Qwest’s latest offer and “respond accordingly.”

Shares of MCI jumped for a third straight day amid the biggest telecom bidding war since 1999, at the height of the technology boom. The stock rose 56 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $25.01 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

But Qwest’s shares slid 4.5 percent, 17 cents to $3.60, on the New York Stock Exchange, while Verizon ‘s rose 20 cents to $35.63.

The new deal with Verizon, the dominant local phone company in the eastern United States and a top wireless operator, values MCI at $23.10 per share.