CenturyLink and Qwest, Merger Agreement Approved

CenturyLink and Qwest Communications announced that their boards of directors have approved an agreement under which CenturyLink will acquire Qwest in a tax-free, stock-for-stock transaction.

Leveraging CenturyLink's proven integration experience, the transaction is expected to generate annual operating and capital synergies of approximately $625 million when fully recognized over a three- to five-year period following the close of the transaction. As of December 31, 2009, CenturyLink and Qwest served local markets in 37 states with approximately 5 million broadband customers, 17 million access lines, 1,415,000 video subscribers and 850,000 wireless consumers.

This combination will result in a company whose enterprise business will be a significant contributor to its growth which, along with the consumer business, will allow it to offer innovative broadband products and services over its advanced networks.