Morning Edition 18.09.00

NEWS The latest transatlantic discussions between BT and AT&T are covered in most of this morning's papers. According to the Guardian the telecommunications giants are considering shaking up their respective mobile and international telephony businesses which are currently under the partnership labels Concert and Advance. But now senior management from both sides are toying with a strategy de-merger and merger to create two separate entities, with flotation the medium to long-term aim. The Guardian describes the prospective move as "one of the most ambitious pieces of corporate alchemy ever"... However, the Financial Times suggests plans are rather less grand. The paper says BT and AT&T initially discussed what to do with mobile but negotiations now involve only the business services arm. Talks are at an "early stage" which might explain the discrepancy in the reports. Phrase of the day: "unlocking shareholder value"... While the FT concentrates on other people's strategic thinking, its parent company Pearson unveiled the latest piece in its own website thinking. The Daily Telegraph says the firm is about to invest £10.7m in a 20 per cent stake in www.business.com, a US-based financial information service. Other benefits will doubtless emerge, but first things first. Pearson's money buys the Financial Times top billing on the business portal, knocking the Wall Street Journal off in the process. Worth every penny... Finally, a North Tyneside factory closed down over two years ago, maybe about to be re-opened. Former owner, Siemens, shut down operations in 1998 at the cost of 1,200 jobs. But - says the Independent - chip maker Amtel, is expected to confirm today that it will invest £700m in the plant, which it is buying for £35m. The paper says the changing fortunes for the factory reflect a massive world shortage of memory chips... Morning Edition will be back tomorrow morning.