The AT&T Co-NCR Corp battle, finally settled in AT&T’s favour but on terms that should prove very acceptable to NCR’s shareholders, has been Christmas and birthday all rolled into one for the handful of securities and legal firms retained by the companies on deal-starved Wall Street. According to the New York Times, NCR paid Dillon Read & Co $2.5m upfront in fees to conduct its defence, plus a percentage of the value of the final deal, which means it will get $18.5m; Goldman Sachs & Co was added to the team later on the same terms. Oddly, the team on the losing side comes out better than AT&T’s advisors: Morgan, Stanley & Co got $3.5m upfront when there was no certainty that a deal would ever be done, but collects $13.5m all told. On the legal side, AT&T reported that up to March 31, its legal fees were $12m, and NCR’s legal advisor Weil, Gotshal & Manges stands to do as well.
