(Is this weird or what. :eyes:)
Huge Phone Deal Seeks to Thwart Smaller Rivals by Ken Benson
-snip-
The merger, one of the dozen largest deals ever, was long the subject of speculation and got a major push in January
when the chiefs of both companies went bird hunting together in Georgia-snip-
After their day out, the men promised to go to their boards and pursue a deal. Several weeks later, the executives met again privately and shook hands on a deal, setting off another three-week marathon of conference calls and meetings.
The deal was given the code name Project Mountain, while AT&T was referred to as Aspen, BellSouth was called Birch and Cingular Cedar. The mountain theme was chosen because, as one person put it, "This deal has been a long climb."
Over the last three weeks, both sides camped out at the midtown Manhattan offices of Sullivan & Cromwell, which represented AT&T. Mr. Whitacre called in from Torino, where he was watching the Olympics. On Saturday, the boards of both companies met to approve the transaction.
http://nytimes.com/2006/03/06/business/06phone.html?hp&ex=1141707600&en=eaaef06a5683b023&ei=5094&partner=homepage