AT&T sees $800 mn Q3 gain from Sterling sale

NEW YORK, USA: AT&T Inc said it expects a third-quarter pretax gain of $800 million from International Business Machines Corp's purchase of Sterling Commerce, which closed on Friday.

The companies had announced the plan in May for IBM to pay AT&T about $1.4 billion to buy the unit, which sells software to financial services, manufacturing and retail companies.

SBC - now part of AT&T - had bought Sterling Commerce for $3.9 billion at the height of the dotcom boom in 2000.

Sterling's software and services help companies securely transfer electronic documents, such as purchase orders, payroll information, invoices and healthcare claims.

AT&T said the difference between the gain and the deal prices reflects the value of Sterling Commerce assets on AT&T's books. The company said it would reveal the after-tax value of the deal when it reports third-quarter results.