Midday Movers: Bell Atlantic, Vodafone AirTouch, KLM and Cable & Wireless

Bell Atlantic(BEL Quote) and Vodafone AirTouch(VOD Quote) said they would spin off a part of their U.S. wireless joint venture, Verizon Wireless , in an IPO. The companies said Verizon would put $3 billion toward developing its network. Bell Atlantic advanced 2 3/16 to 65 1/4, while Vodafone AirTouch declined 4 1/2, or 8.1%, to 51.

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Mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures

Italian airliner Alitalia stated today that a merger with its strategic partner KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM Quote) was only one of the issues currently under discussion between the two. The Italian financial daily Il Sole 24 reported earlier that Alitalia and KLM had stepped up talks to consider a full merger. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines lifted 3/16 to 20 3/8.

Cable & Wireless (CWP Quote) lost 3 13/16, or 7.1%, to 49 9/16 after it said it entered a three-year, $91 million online hosting agreement with Microcast. The deal calls for Cable & Wireless to supply the video-streaming provider with Web connectivity that would link Microcast's video-server installations to Cable & Wireless' Internet protocol network.

Interpublic Group(IPG Quote), an advertising firm, and NFO Worldwide(NFO Quote) said that the terms of their planned merger have been adjusted, leaving Interpublic to pay $581 million in stock for NFO. According to the revised deal, NFO holders would now receive .5503 shares of Interpublic, with the breakup fee rising to $30 million from $25 million. NFO can only exercise its terminate option if Interpublic's price drops below $44.80. NFO said it received a rival bid from a third party which it said was unacceptable. Interpublic Group climbed 1 1/4 to 48 5/8. NFO Worldwide also rose 1 5/19, or 5.5%, to 25 1/16. ...