Shareholders OK Embarq sale to CenturyTel - Kansas City Business Journal:

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billion plan to combine. About 99 percenty of Overland Park-based Embarq (NYSE: EQ) shareholders who votexd — representing more than 79 percent of total outstandin shares of common stock gave their blessing tothe transaction. More than 96 percent of voting shareholders ofCenturyTel (NYSE: based in Monroe, La., approved the the companies said in a CenturyTel, a local phone servicre provider half Embarq’s size, Embarq in an all-stock mergere that included assuming $5.8 million in Embarq debt. Shareholderd of Embarq are to get 1.37 CenturyTepl shares for everyEmbarq share, meaning they’ll own aboutg 66 percent of the combinesd company.
The deal is expected to close in thesecondc quarter, subject to federalk and state regulatory approvals. “With these we have taken another importantt step forward to combineour companies, maximize our and unite our employee s to deliver additional value for our CenturyTel CEO Glen Post said in the release. “The significantlyh greater scale and scope of our combined operationsz will better position us to take advantage of efficiency and growth opportunitiesw in an increasingly competitive andchallenginhg marketplace.” Post will run the combined company, whos headquarters will be in Louisiana.
Embarq CEO Tom Gerke will be executive vice chairmamn of thecombined company’s boarsd and oversee regulatory and governmental relationds and human resources. The companies, which are in a shrinkingy industry as consumers hang up wireline phoneds forwireless ones, expect the combination to save abouty $400 million annually within the first three years. CenturyTel shareholders also approved elimination ofspecial 10-vot e voting rights of certain of its shareholders, and they vote to increase the company’s authorized numbet of shares of common stockk from 350 million to 800 Embarq operates in 18 states; the two companiesx together will operate in 33 states with aboutg 8 million access lines and 2 million broadbancd customers.
Embarq ranks No. 3 on the Kansas City Business Journao ’s list of area public companies. It spun off from Overlanfd Park-based (NYSE: S) in May 2006. • • • •