Qwest, US West merger a done deal
Qwest Communications International completes its purchase of the local phone company for about $44 billion in stock.
Each US West share will be exchanged for 1.73 shares of Qwest common stock, which closed Friday at $49.69. Qwest will issue about 882 million shares in exchange for US West shares, or about 53 percent of the combined company's shares.
Qwest will gain US West's more than 25 million customers and regional phone networks, which can lower the costs for carrying some long-distance calls. Denver-based Qwest is a long-distance company that provides high-speed data and Internet services.
The combined company will have an $85 billion market capitalization. Qwest forecast revenue in 2000 will be $18.5 billion, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization will be $7.4 billion.
Copyright 2000, Bloomberg L.P. All Rights Reserved.