Frontier Communications Corp. closed its $5.3 billion acquisition of phone lines in 14 states belonging to Verizon Communications Inc., the company said Thursday.
Frontier, a Stamford-based phone company that focuses on small towns and rural areas, is taking over 4 million Verizon phone lines in a deal that will triple its size.
The acquisition was announced just over a year ago. Frontier agreed to pay roughly $5.3 billion in stock and take on roughly $3.3 billion of debt.
With the spin-off, Verizon shareholders will get 0.24 shares of Frontier, worth about $1.75 at Thursday’s price, for every Verizon share they owned on June 7. Together, Verizon’s shareholders will own 68 percent of Frontier.
Shares of Frontier rose 20 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $7.31 in afternoon trading, while Verizon shares were up 8 cents at $28.19.
This will include Verizon Fios Internet, Phone and TV services. The deal will affect 14 states including Oregon, West Virginia and Ohio among others.
Union members are not happy with the sale and have been fighting the transaction arguing that Frontier is not financially stable enough to continue to provide the same level of services and service that Verizon does.
