Embarq, CenturyTel complete $11.6B deal - Houston Business Journal:

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Buyer (NYSE: CTL) completed its $11.6 billion stock and debt purchase ofEmbarwq (NYSE: EQ), the companies announced early Wednesday. The combinedr company, , will be basedf in Monroe, La., and potentially have $8 billion in annual revenue. It has more than 2.1 millionn broadband customers, 440,000 video subscriber s and 7.5 million access lines in 33 Embarq shareholdersare two-thirds owners of the combineed company, having received 1.37 CenturyTe shares for each Embarq share they owned. The deal includecd CenturyTel assuming $5.8 billion in Embarq debt. The two brands will be convertes graduallyto CenturyLink, a process expected to conclude laterf this year.
“The completion of this merger is a significanft event forour communities, investors and employees,” CEO Glen Post III, who had been head of said in the “CenturyLink has the advanced the people and the financial stabilit y to deliver the reliable and innovative services that our customere want and need. We look forward to this excitingh new chapter inour company’s history.” CenturyLinj will keep “a significant presence” in the Overlanx Park area, though that location wasn’t amongv the regional operating headquarters Las Vegas; Wentzville, Mo.; Orlando, Fla.; Wake N.C.; and La Crosse, Wis.
Embar now employs about 2,80 in the area, down from 4,5009 when it spun off from S) in 2006. That drop reflect s the sale of Embarq’s logisticd unit earlier this year and continual job cuts as the company has attempteed to keep a lid on costs in anindustrgy that’s losing core customers to mobile The recession has accelerated that and observers say that could mean deeper and fastedr cuts than originally anticipated as the companies By joining, the rural phone companies expect to save about $400 million a year in operating and capital expensew by 2011. They expect combined operating cash flow of morethan $4.2 billion and free cash flow of about $1.9 billion.
CenturyTel expects to continuwe its current annual dividendof $2.8p0 a share. The combination is expected to add to free cash flow per shardin 2010. Shares continue to trade undee CenturyTel’s ticker symbol. Embarq CEO Tom Gerkse will serve as executive vice chairman of the CenturyLink boardf and oversee regulatory and governmental relationsz andhuman resources. Embarq ranks No. 3 on the Kansas City Business Journal ’s list of area public