NTT Completes $5.5 Billion Verio Buy

Japan's former state monopoly, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., [NYSE:NTT] and ISP Verio Inc. of Englewood, Colo., said in a joint statement today that all hurdles have been overcome in NTT Communications' $5.5 billion bid to buy Verio. NTT Communications will control about 95.6 percent of the outstanding shares of Verio common stock once the deal is completed by the end of September, the companies said. The proposed buy caused concern and scrutiny in Washington where US government agencies and regulators feared the takeover could present a foreign espionage risk by giving state-controlled NTT access to US wiretapping activities, but the government cleared the transaction about one week ago. A Reuters report today said the deal is being closely watched as a possible precedent for other ISP-telecom deals, including possible hurdles that Germany's state-controlled Deutsche Telekom AG may face in its attempt to purchase US mobile phone operator VoiceStream Wireless Corp. for about $48 billion. In their official announcement, Verio and NTT Communications said their union will create a strong international competitor, ranking among the top ISPs globally and that the partners will immediately begin to provide customers in the US, Japan, and throughout Asia with a complete range of Web-based business services, including IP network services with global connectivity, network management, Web-hosting and e-commerce platforms.