Southern New England Telecommunications Corp was only an affiliate of the Bell system at the time of the break-up of AT&T Co – AT&T held a 28% stake, later sold, but Nynex Corp is believed to be casting hungry eyes over the company, which as its name implies, provides the local telephone service in part of the region that Nynex regards as its natural fiefdom: Nynex would almost certainly step in as a white knight if a hostile bid were made for the company, but is not thought likely to make a hostile bid itself – all of which seems to make Southern New England Tel an attractive play for an arbitrageur looking to make a quick killing in the stock by launching a hostile bid for it.
