ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 5, 1996 TAG: 9604050090
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
The spin-off of AT&T Corp.'s $21 billion communications equipment manufacturing business Thursday had little direct effect on owners of AT&T shares, the most widely owned stock in the United States.
But it will later this year, when AT&T disposes of its 83 percent stake in the new Lucent Technologies Inc. by giving AT&T stockholders about one Lucent share for every three AT&T shares.
The stock payout imitates the 1984 breakup of the Bell System, which separated AT&T's long distance and equipment manufacturing from its local phone service operations. When local phone operations were split into seven regional companies, AT&T shareholders got 1 share in each Baby Bell for every 10 shares of AT&T stock.
AT&T later this year also will spin off its computer manufacturing operation, NCR Corp. Because NCR is less than half the size of Lucent, the stock ratio likely will be one share of NCR for seven or eight shares of AT&T.
More than 2.2 million people own shares of AT&T. There are another 1 million institutional owners, such as mutuals and pension funds.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Short : 31 linesby CNB