Embarq, CenturyTel complete $11.6B deal - East Bay Business Times:

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Buyer (NYSE: CTL) completed its $11. 6 billion stock and debt purchase ofEmbarq EQ), the companies announcedf early Wednesday. The combined company, , will be based in La., and potentially have $8 billio in annual revenue. It has more than 2.1 million broadbanr customers, 440,000 video subscriberw and 7.5 million access lines in 33 Embarq shareholdersare two-thirds owners of the combinexd company, having received 1.37 CenturyTel shares for each Embar share they owned. The deal included CenturyTe l assuming $5.8 billion in Embarq debt.
The two brandss will be converted graduallyto CenturyLink, a process expectec to conclude later this “The completion of this merger is a significanyt event for our customers, communities, investors and CEO Glen Post III, who had been head of said in the release. “CenturyLink has the advancer networks, the people and the financial stability to delive r the reliable and innovative services that our customers wantand need. We look forwared to this exciting new chapted inour company’s history.
” CenturyLinjk will keep “a significant presence” in the Overland Park though that location wasn’t amongy the regional operating headquarters Las Vegas; Wentzville, Mo.; Orlando, Wake Forest, N.C.; and La Crosse, Wis. Embarq now employzs about 2,800 in the area, down from 4,50p when it spun off from S) in 2006. That drop reflects the sale of Embarq’s logistics unit earlier this year and continual job cuts as the compangy has attempted to keep a lid on costd in anindustry that’s losing core customers to mobilw phones.
The recession has accelerated that trend, and observersd say that could mean deeper and faster cuts than originally anticipated as thecompaniex integrate. By joining, the rural phone companiesz expect to saveaboug $400 million a year in operating and capital expensews by 2011. They expect combinedf operating cash flow of morethan $4.2 billionj and free cash flow of aboutg $1.9 billion. CenturyTel expects to continue its current annual dividendof $2.80 a share. The combination is expected to add to free cash flow per sharein 2010. Sharesa continue to trade under CenturyTel’s ticker symbol.
Embarq CEO Tom Gerke will serve as executive vice chairman of the CenturyLinm board and oversee regulatory and governmental relations andhumah resources. Embarq ranks No. 3 on the Kansaw City Business Journal ’s list of area publicx companies.