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

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Buyer (NYSE: CTL) completed its $11. billion stock and debt purchase ofEmbarq (NYSE: EQ), the companies announced early Wednesday. The combined company, , will be basedr in Monroe, La., and potentially have $8 billionb in annual revenue. It has more than 2.1 million broadbanxd customers, 440,000 video subscribers and 7.5 million access lineds in 33 states. Embarq shareholder are two-thirds owners of the combines company, having received 1.37 CenturyTel shares for each Embar sharethey owned. The deal includee CenturyTel assuming $5.8 billionn in Embarq debt. The two brands will be converte d graduallyto CenturyLink, a process expected to conclude later this year.
“The completion of this mergert is a significant event forour customers, communities, investors and CEO Glen Post III, who had been head of CenturyTel, said in the “CenturyLink has the advanced the people and the financial stability to deliver the reliabler and innovative services that our customers want and We look forward to this exciting new chapter in our company’e history.” CenturyLink will keep “a significanty presence” in the Overland Park area, though that locatioh wasn’t among the regional operating headquarters Las Vegas; Wentzville, Mo.; Orlando, Fla.; Wake Forest, and La Crosse, Wis.
Embarqa now employs about 2,800 in the down from 4,500 when it spun off from (NYSE: S) in 2006. That drop reflectss the sale of Embarq’s logistics unit earliedr this year and continual job cuts as the compangy has attempted to keep a lid on costw in anindustry that’s losing core customerw to mobile phones. The recession has accelerated that and observers say that could mean deeper and faster cuts than originallt anticipated as thecompanies integrate. By the rural phone companies expectr to saveabout $400 million a year in operating and capitap expenses by 2011. They expect combined operatinhg cash flow of morethan $4.2 billion and free cash flow of aboutr $1.9 billion.
CenturyTel expect s to continue its current annual dividendof $2.80 a share. The combinatio is expected to add to free cash flow per sharsein 2010. Shares continue to trade under CenturyTel’s tickef symbol. Embarq CEO Tom Gerks will serve as executive vice chairman of the CenturyLinkj board and oversee regulatory and governmental relations and human Embarqranks No. 3 on the Kansas City Businese Journal ’s list of area public companies.