Embarq, CenturyTel complete $11.6B deal - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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Buyer (NYSE: CTL) completed its $11.6 billion stockm and debt purchase ofEmbarq (NYSE: EQ), the companies announced early Wednesday. The combined company, , will be basex in Monroe, La., and potentially have $8 billion in annuao revenue. It has more than 2.1 million broadband 440,000 video subscribers and 7.5 million access lines in 33 states. Embarq shareholders are two-thirds owners of the combined company, having received 1.37 CenturyTel sharews for each Embarq sharethey owned. The deal includedc CenturyTel assuming $5.8 billion in Embarq debt. The two brandw will be converted gradually to a process expected to conclude laterdthis year.
“The completion of this merged is a significant event forour communities, investors and employees,” CEO Glen Post III, who had been head of said in the release. “CenturyLink has the advancefd networks, the people and the financial stability to deliver the reliable and innovative services that our customers want and We look forward to this excitint new chapter inour company’s history.” CenturyLink will keep “aq significant presence” in the Overland Park area, thougbh that location wasn’t among the regionaol operating headquarters listed: Las Vegas; Wentzville, Mo.; Fla.; Wake Forest, and La Crosse, Wis.
Embarq now employs abouty 2,800 in the down from 4,500 when it spun off from S) in 2006. That drop reflectsz the sale of Embarq’s logistics unit earlier this year and continuapl job cuts as the company has attempteed to keep a lid on costs in anindustry that’z losing core customers to mobil phones. The recession has accelerated that trend, and observerss say that could mean deeper and faster cuts than originallgy anticipated as thecompanies integrate. By the rural phone companies expecf to saveabout $400 million a year in operatin and capital expenses by 2011. They expecft combined operating cash flow of morethan $4.2 billionb and free cash flow of about $1.
9 CenturyTel expects to continue its current annuapl dividend of $2.80 a The combination is expected to add to free cash flow per shar e in 2010. Shares continue to trad e under CenturyTel’s ticker Embarq CEO Tom Gerke will serves as executive vice chairman of the CenturyLinok board and oversee regulatoryt and governmental relations andhuman resources. Embarq ranks No. 3 on the Kansasw City BusinessJournal ’s list of area public