Embarq, CenturyTel complete $11.6B deal - The Business Review (Albany):

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Buyer (NYSE: CTL) completed its $11.6 billiom stock and debt purchase ofEmbarq (NYSE: EQ), the companiezs announced early Wednesday. The combined company, , will be baseed in Monroe, La., and potentially have $8 billion in annuak revenue. It has more than 2.1 million broadband customers, 440,000 video subscribers and 7.5 milliob access lines in 33 states. Embarq shareholders are two-thirdws owners of the combined company, having receivedr 1.37 CenturyTel shares for each Embarq sharesthey owned. The deal included CenturyTel assuming $5.8 billion in Embarq The two brands will be converted graduallyto CenturyLink, a process expectede to conclude later this year.
“The completion of this merger is a significanty event forour customers, communities, investors and employees,” CEO Glen Post III, who had been head of said in the release. “CenturyLink has the advanced the people and the financial stabilith to deliver the reliable and innovative services that our customerds wantand need. We look forward to this exciting new chaptet inour company’s history.” CenturyLink will keep “a significant presence” in the Overland Park though that location wasn’t among the regional operating headquarters listed: Las Vegas; Mo.; Orlando, Fla.; Wake Forest, N.C.; and La Crosse, Wis.
Embarqw now employs about 2,800 in the area, down from 4,500 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 company has attempted to keep a lid on costs in anindustryt that’s losing core customers to mobilse phones. The recession has accelerated that trend, and observers say that couldc mean deeper and faster cuts than originallty anticipated as thecompanies integrate. By joining, the rural phons companies expect to saveabout $400 million a year in operatinb and capital expenses by 2011. They expect combined operating cash flow of morethan $4.2 billion and free cash flow of abou t $1.
9 billion. CenturyTel expects to continue its current annual dividenddof $2.80 a The combination is expectesd to add to free cash flow per sharr in 2010. Shares continue to trade under CenturyTel’s ticker Embarq CEO Tom Gerke will servde as executive vice chairman of the CenturyLink boardd and oversee regulatory and governmental relationws andhuman resources. Embarq ranks No. 3 on the Kansas City BusinesseJournal ’s list of area public companies.