In 1997 talks were underway for British Telecom (BT) to acquire MCI. The deal fell through, and in September, 1998 MCI was acquired by WorldCom after they made a better offer for the company. Actually, the Worldcom offer was nearly identical to the BT offer, but where BT planned to buy out MCI shares of stock, WorldCom offered a stock-swap which was more attractive to the stockholders. Worldcom took control in September 1998 and dissolved the BT/MCI alliance as of October 15, 1998.