MCI has turned its back on Qwest and decided instead to be acquired by Verizon.

MCI - which had always had a fondness for Verizon but had been considering Qwest's advances - has finally made a decision.

Even though Qwest offered more for MCI ($8.9bn), the company formerly known as WorldCom decided, instead, to opt for Verizon and its $7.6bn bid.

In a statement MCI said the "Qwest proposal in its current form, taken as a whole, is not superior to its merger agreement with Verizon".

After weighing up all the options, including the "negative sentiment among MCI customers toward a Qwest combination", MCI rejected Qwest.

"MCI was not willing to jeopardize the certainty of its Verizon agreement for the uncertainties surrounding the Qwest proposal," it said.

Despite getting the brush off three times, Qwest still appears to have some fight left and appears to be willing to give it one go.

"MCI's Board of Directors has chosen to reject what we believe is a superior offer to acquire MCI. The company is currently weighing its options and shareholders will dictate the next steps in this process," it said. ®

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