MCI back on the NASDAQ

MCI today shed the over-the-counter trading status it’s held since bankruptcy and resumed its old place on the NASDAQ stock exchange. No longer under the heading WCOM ticker, the former WorldCom has adopted the new symbol MCIP, a moniker company officials said reflects its focus on IP technologies.

MCI officials hailed the company’s return to the NASDAQ as a crucial milestone in the carrier’s recovery from bankruptcy and the accounting scandal that precipitated that bankruptcy. Since emerging from bankruptcy in April, MCI has launched a host of new IP and voice services in an effort to get back the business it lost while negotiating its Chapter 11 reorganization. According to MCI, the plan seems to have worked. MCI said it has won about $1 billion in new contracts in the last three months, including an $125 million deal announced today with HP.

MCI’s recovery may have also made it an acquisition target. Earlier this week, Leucadia National, an investment corporation, notified MCI that it was seeking regulatory approval to buy a 50% controlling stake in the carrier, a move that many analysts think may create a bidding war. So far no other company has declared publicly its intentions to pursue MCI, but many analysts predict both BellSouth and SBC would be interested.

MCI has not said if has been negotiating with Leucadia, which owns WilTel, a Tier II IXC that competes with MCI and provides transport services for SBC.