Morning Edition: 19.09.00

According to the Financial Times, Euronext, the exchange formed by the merger of the Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris borses, is preparing to table a "white knight" bid for the London Stock Exchange (LSE), which is facing hostile takeover action from Sweden's OM group.

Euronext originally proposed the idea of merger in April but the move was rejected by the LSE which at the time was in talks with the Deutsch Borse to merge into iX. The FT reports that Euronext will present the new offer after the LSE publishes its defence against OM's bid next week.

It's unlikely that the LSE will be offered the same concessions as were contained in the April proposal which at the time was proposed to be a merger on the "basis of equality". Should the deal go ahead, the chairman of the new supervisory board is likely to be British, with Jean-Francois Theodore, current CEO of Euronext, staying on as chief executive...

While merger talks rumble on regarding BT and AT&T the Telegraph brings fresh speculation of BT preparing to float its wireless arm, Cellnet.

The move would certainly be a positive step in meeting the escalating debts of the UK telco, which could be as much as £30bn by next June. BT Cellnet's strong hold on the European wireless market could see BT make as much as £40bn from the flotation - considerably more than other options, such as a sale of the company's Yellow Pages enterprise.

The article quotes a 'source familiar with the negotiations' as saying: "BT's wireless interests are going to be an integral part of whatever the company's got to do in the public capital market..."

In addition to news that Time Warner's merger with AOL is facing a possible block from the EC, its subsidiary, Warner Music, is believed to be tabling a series of concessions in an attempt to push through its proposed $20bn merger with EMI.

The Financial Times reports that the merged company is prepared to sell off a number of its music labels, as well as some of its publishing ventures, to win the EC's approval for the deal. The Commission is primarily concerned about the dominant market position the company would hold.

Warner-EMI is also expected to include a commitment to restructuring of the distribution business.

Morning Edition will be back tomorrow morning.