The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, April 27, 2000, Image 8

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    NATION
Page 8
THE BATTALION
Thursday,a
AT&T to continue
with wireless IPO
NEW YORK (AP) — Despite a
queasy stock market, AT&T is asking
Wall Street to swallow more than $10
billion worth of a new stock represent
ing its vast wireless operations.
The initial public offering could
prove to be the richest in U.S. history.
The IPO was conceived of during
happier times, less than six months ago,
when investors seemed to have a bot
tomless appetite for any business that
might profit from the Web-ification of
the world — with a particular craving
for those that can provide a wireless
link to all the niftiness of the Internet.
But in recent weeks, worries about
when those profite might materialize
have killed that hunger, prompting a
selloff that has beaten down the high
flying share prices of even those com
panies that make money.
As a result, some companies have
been postponing their IPOs, fearful that
the current atmosphere will deprive
them of a big payday.
AT&T, however, was expected
Wednesday to proceed with the IPO of
its new wireless “tracking" stock,
which will represent the financial per
formance of the company’s mobile
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Software Engineer Position
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phone business as well as new initia
tives that use the airwaves to deliver
phone and Web services to homes and
businesses with special antennas.
Whether AT&T finds strong de
mand for the new stock will say some
thing about whether investors are get
ting over their fright.
Since AT&T Wireless Group is a
real business with real customers and
real profits, a successful IPO will not
mean that the boom times are returning
for Internet companies that look
promising but are still losing money or
barely making money.
On the other hand, if investors do
not want any part of a business w ith
such strong credentials, it will metin in
vestors are having a hard time getting
past the recent trauma.
Part of the reason AT&T w ould
n’t want to delay the IPO is that it’s
not so simple to coordinate a stock
sale this large.
According to a prospectus filed ear
lier this month with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. AT&T wants
to sell between 360 million and 414
million shares in the new w ireless stock
for between $26 and $32 per share.
States seeking methods to
losses in tobacco settlement
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — State
governments fearful of losing billions in *
tobacco settlement money are scurrying
to find ways to keep the cash coming in
the face of lagging cigarette sales and
high-stakes litigation in Florida.
The states already took a billion-dol-
lar hit this month after their payments
were decreased to reflect last year’s 9
percent decline in U.S. cigarette ship
ments. Pennsylvania received $198 mil
lion, about $28 million less than project
ed, and other states reported similar
declines of 10 percent to 15 percent.
The losses, w hich some state officials
say may continue, could shave more than
$20 billion from the $206 billion due to
46 states over 25 years to cover health-re
lated costs, under a "volume adjustment"
clause of the settlement agreement.
Even worse, states worry that pay
ments could be delayed for years in the
event of a crippling punitive aw ard in a
Florida class-action law suit involving an
estimated 500,000 sick smokers.
It’s a potential problem for many
states, w hich arc using their cut of the
settlement to pay for projects ranging
from smoking prevention programs and
health insurance for tfie uninsured to
schools, water projects and new jails.
With so much at stake, state govern
ments are keeping close watch on the
health of the very industry' at the core of
the health-related problems to begin with.
“1 do think state appropriators have
been very cautious where they put these
dollars, knowing they’re going to
change," said Joan Henneberry, a
health policy expert at the National
Governors Association.
Many states, like Pennsylvania,
want to cushion the impact of fluctuat
ing payments w ith plans to set aside
portions in rainy day funds and by ap
propriating the settlement money for
programs year by year.
Other states are bolder. Four tobacco
states — Georgia, Kentucky, Virginia
and North Carolina have passed or
are pondering bills to shield industry as
sets during the appeals process. That
Virginia and L
tana, cite the declining
payments and the industry’s bankruptcy
risk for why they may sell some of their
settlement to investors at a discount. They
say it’s better that counting on the indus
try to stay fully afloat for 25 years.
"We can’t afford to take that risk."
said Louisiana State Treasurej
Kennedy. “If your rich uncle
left you S4.6 billion, youwoi
all Philip Morris stock; you’d
fy. ... But every day we waitjai'
had new s comes out about the
industry, the price goes down;
zo spendinq
came
after some
analysts
pru
.‘dieted
record
damages in
Florida
and
as the
Justice
Department
sues the
inclii
istry to
recove
r billions the
govemn
icnl
savs it
spent c
>n smoking-re
Tated he;
ilth
care.
And a few states
, includii
rig F
lorida.
||M junior Eva Mai
Tainst the Univers
■-i.-si.
® -
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Vome
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BY BLAINE D
The Battal
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