AT & T; Inc. said on Sunday it would buy BellSouth Corpfor $67 billion to acquire the rest of Cingular Wireless it does not already own, and expand into the southeastern United States to gain heft to battle growing competition from cable television and Internet companies.
BellSouth shareholders will receive 1.325 shares of AT & T; common stock for each common share of BellSouth. Based on AT & T;’s closing stock price on March 3, that equals $37.09 per BellSouth common share, a 17.9-percent premium.
