Alltel 04.11.06: Spinoff Windstream; Charlotte Business Journal
Alltel spinoff takes Windstream name
Charlotte Business Journal - 8:40 AM EDT Tuesday
April 11, 2006
charlotte.bizjournals.com
"Alltel Corp. says its spin-off wireline business will be called Windstream Communications and be based in Little Rock, Ark.
Alltel is selling the wireline operation to focus exclusively on its wireless business, where it competes with rivals such as Verizon, Cingular and Sprint/Nextel.
Alltel has about 125,000 wireline customers in the Charlotte region, stretching from Mooresville to Matthews. Alltel also operates a call center in Matthews that has more than 500 employees.
On Dec. 9. Alltel announced plans to spin off its wireline business in a deal with Texas-based Valor Communications. Alltel shareholders will wind up with more than 80% of the merged company.
State and federal regulators are still considering the merger, but Alltel hopes to complete the transaction by June 30.
The combined company will be the nation's largest rural exchange carrier by more than 50%, serving 3.4 million customers in 16 states.
Windstream expects annual revenue of $3.4 billion and operating income of $1.7 billion. Its stock will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "WIN."
Jeffrey Gardner, a former executive vice president of Alltel, will be president and chief executive of Windstream.
Gardner said the company considered more than 2,000 proposed names for the business.
Wireline companies are gradually losing customers to wireless operations and Internet-based service sold by rivals such as Time Warner Cable and Vonage. But wireline service remains lucrative, particularly in rural markets such as those where Alltel operates, analysts say.
Alltel's first wireless operations launched in Charlotte in 1985. Its wireless business has grown to 10.6 million customers in 35 states, ranking fifth nationally.
Shares of Alltel (NYSE:AT) closed Monday at $66.21, up from a closing price of $65.69 on Friday" |
