Reportedly, each of the nine directors secured about 70% of the vote, with the remaining shares being withheld by shareholders unhappy that the board accepted Verizon’s $8.5bn acquisition bid over Qwest Communications International’s $9.8bn offer.
There had been some speculation that a board coup, or a strong shareholder revolt, could persuade Qwest to revitalize its bid, which it withdrew at the start of the month after three months of one-upmanship with Verizon.
Verizon decided to buy MCI following rival SBC Communications’ decision to buy AT&T. Both of these megamergers need to be cleared by US regulators before they can close, and there objections to both have already started to emerge.
