3 Telecom Cos Bid For Alltel's Local Phone Lines - Report
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Three telecommunications companies have entered final negotiations to acquire a collection of local telephone access lines from Alltel Corp., the Arkansas-based wireless group, for as much as US$10 billion, the Financial Times reported Friday.
The newspaper, citing people familiar with the matter, said Citizens Communications Co., CenturyTel Inc. and Valor Communications Group Inc. are competing to acquire the business, which Alltel is hoping to sell in the coming weeks.
A deal would most likely be structured as a "Reverse Morris Trust," in which Alltel would first spin off the access lines and subsequently have them acquired by the preferred bidder in an all-stock transaction, the Financial Times said. Alltel shareholders would retain a stake in the sold business, according to the report.
In September, Alltel said it was in the formal process of spinning off the local business in its entirety to existing shareholders or doing it in combination with a merger with another company.
Although a sale now appeared to be the most likely outcome, no final decision had been taken, people close to the company told the Financial Times.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires "
Posted to the site on 25th November 2005
