The Arizona Corporation Commission yesterday approved the acquisition of US telco Qwest by CenturyLink.
The approval removes another hurdle from the deal, which the companies now expect to be completed by 1 April.
The move in Arizona means that the two…
The Arizona Corporation Commission yesterday approved the acquisition of US telco Qwest by CenturyLink.
The approval removes another hurdle from the deal, which the companies now expect to be completed by 1 April.
The move in Arizona means that the two companies only need approval from three more states and the FCC before they can close the deal.
The deal has already been cleared by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission.
Under the terms of the agreement announced back in June 2010, Qwest shareholders would receive 0.1664 shares in CenturyLink in exchange for every share of Qwest common stock they own.
When the deal is closed, CenturyLink shareholders are expected to own approximately 50.5% of the new company, with Qwest shareholders owning the rest.
The enterprise value of this transaction would be US$22.4bn, which includes CenturyLink assuming US$11.8bn of Qwest net debt that was outstanding at the end of 2009.
The financial advisers for CenturyLink are Barclays Capital, Evercore Partners and JP Morgan. The legal advisers were Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere & Denegre LLP.
The financial advisers for Qwest are Deutsche Bank, Lazard, Morgan Stanley and Perella Weinberg Partners. The legal advisers are Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale & Dorr LLP.
