CTL-Q Merger Clears 9 States Hurdle - Analyst Blog

CenturyLink's (CTL) pending acquisition of the third-largest U.S. local phone service operator, Qwest Communications (Q), received approval from the regulators of nine states –– California, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, Ohio and West Virginia.
 
The pending merger has already been approved by shareholders of both the companies.  They have also received the antitrust clearance from the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. However, the transaction is still pending approval in twelve other states as well as from the Federal Communications Commission. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the first half of 2011.
 
Upon completion of the transaction, Qwest will become a wholly owned subsidiary of CenturyLink, and each share of Qwest stock will be converted into 0.1664 shares of CenturyLink common stock. CenturyLink shareholders will own approximately 50.5% and Qwest shareholders will own about 49.5% of the combined company. The newly formed company will be headquartered in Monroe and will maintain a key operational presence in Denver.
 
Both CenturyLink and Qwest remain challenged by hemorrhaging landline voice businesses and are contending in an industry that is consolidating rapidly. Competition is intense for both these operators, with Tier-1 national carriers such as AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) offering a myriad of communication services such as fixed voice, wireless, broadband and video.  
 
CenturyLink has emerged as one of the largest rural telecom carriers in the U.S., following its acquisition of local telephone service provider Embarq Corporation, a spin-off from Sprint Nextel (S), in July 2009 for $11.6 billion. However, the carrier continues to experience a decline in voice access lines due to increasing competition from other service offerings (such as VoIP) by cable operators.
 
Denver-based Qwest provides local phone service to roughly 10.3 million customers in  fourteen mid western and western U.S. states. However, the carrier remains more challenged than the other regional Baby Bells, given the lack of its own wireless and satellite TV services. This has prevented Qwest from achieving meaningful penetration in these lucrative markets. Moreover, erosion in legacy landline business from wireless substitution continues to weigh on the carrier's top line.
 
Consequently, if the deal is consummated, it will represent one of the biggest mergers in the U.S. telecom industry and will create one of the largest landline operators, with nearly $20 billion in annual revenues, 17 million phone lines, 5 million broadband connections and operations across 37 states. The merger will be accretive to CenturyLink's free cash flow and is expected to generate cost synergies of roughly $625 million over 3−5 years, pursuant to the closure of the deal.
 
We are currently maintaining our Neutral rating with Zacks #3 (Hold) Rank on both CenturyLink and Qwest.

 
CENTURYTEL INC (CTL): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
QWEST COMM INTL (Q): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
SPRINT NEXTEL (S): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
AT&T INC (T): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
VERIZON COMM (VZ): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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