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Windstream to buy fibre operator for $782m
18 August 2010
US rural operator Windstream is buying Q-Comm for $782m, having already bought Iowa Tel for $1.1bn
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Windstream
Q-Comm
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rural telecoms
Windstream is acquiring Q-Comm in a $782 million cash and stock deal. As a part of the transaction, the rural telecom company will issue about 20.6 million shares valued at $237 million on the New York Stock Exchange.
It will also pay $278 million in cash and repay the fibre-optic network operator’s debt worth $267 million.
Windstream was formed in 2006 through the spinoff of Alltel’s landline business and merger with Valor Telecom. In 2009 it announced a $1.1 billion deal to buy Iowa Telecommunications:
http://www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com/Article/2346015/Search/Results/Windstream-to-buy-Iowa-Tel-for-11bn.html?Keywords=windstream&OrderType=1
The latest acquisition will include Q-Comm’s subsidiaries Kentucky Data Link and Norlight. Kentucky Data Link provides fibre services in 22 states, while Norlight offers telecom services to small and medium businesses in the Mid West of the US and had about $231 million in revenue in the year ended June 30.
The boards of both companies have approved the deal, which is scheduled to close in the fourth quarter. The transaction is subject to approval by state and federal regulators.
Stephens and Bank of America Merrill Lynch are advising Windstream, while RBC Daniels is advising Q-Comm. GTB