Nobody mentions that Bob Lorsch was no longer involved with smart talk at the time of all the rhetoric!!..Bobs biggest mistake was leaving millions of shares in smart talk which he entrusted to the new CEO!!
Get the facts before posting!!!........................................................SCHIESEL
Published: January 25, 1999
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When it comes to big deals, the AT&T Corporation can move fast. It's the small ones that can take time.
Shortly after AT&T announced last June that it would acquire Tele-Communications Inc. for $31.8 billion in one of the most complicated communications takeovers in history, for example, AT&T's chairman proudly pointed out that the pact had come together in less than two weeks.
So why did it take four months for AT&T to put together last week's $192.5 million agreement to acquire most of Smartalk Teleservices Inc., a small, distressed seller of long-distance calling cards?
The answer illuminates the world of mergers, the power of AT&T and the crushing difficulty of being a small communications company richer in concepts than in capital.
Last Tuesday, Smartalk issued one of the telecommunications industry's stranger news releases. Smartalk had agreed to sell its assets to AT&T for an amount that was barely more than one day's revenue for the long-distance giant.
