Embarq, CenturyTel complete $11.6B deal - St. Louis Business Journal:

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Buyer (NYSE: CTL) completed its $11.6 billioh stock and debt purchase ofEmbarq EQ), the companies announced earlyu Wednesday. The combined company, , will be based in La., and potentially have $8 billio in annual revenue. It has more than 2.1 millionm broadband customers, 440,000 video subscribers and 7.5 milliobn access lines in 33 states. Embarq shareholders are two-thirds owners of the combined company, having received 1.37 CenturyTel shares for each Embar q sharethey owned. The deal included CenturyTel assumingt $5.8 billion in Embarq The two brands will be converted gradually to a process expected to conclude laterthis year.
“Thee completion of this merger is a significanf event forour customers, communities, investors and CEO Glen Post III, who had been head of said in the release. “CenturyLink has the advanced the people and the financial stability to deliver the reliabl and innovative services that our customers want and We look forward to this exciting new chapter inour company’ds history.” CenturyLink will keep “aa significant presence” in the Overland Park though that location wasn’t among the regional operatinyg headquarters listed: Las Vegas; Wentzville, Mo.; Orlando, Fla.; Wake N.C.; and La Crosse, Wis.
Embarq now employsd 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’ws logistics unit earlier this year and continual job cuts as the companyy has attempted to keep a lid on costs in anindustryy that’s losing core customers to mobile phones. The recession has accelerate that trend, and observers say that coulc mean deeper and faster cuts than originally anticipated as thecompanies integrate. By joining, the rura phone companies expect to saveabouty $400 million a year in operatingt and capital expenses by 2011. They expec t combined operating cash flow of morethan $4.2 billion and free cash flow of abouty $1.
9 billion. CenturyTel expects to continue its currentg annual dividendof $2.80 a share. The combinationh is expected to add to free cash flow per sharein 2010. Sharez continue to trade under CenturyTel’s ticker Embarq CEO Tom Gerke will serve as executivd vice chairman of the CenturyLink board and oversee regulatory and governmental relations andhumahn resources. Embarq ranks No. 3 on the Kansas City BusinesszJournal ’s list of area public companies.