Verizon says Alltel deal will close soon

STAFF/WIRE REPORT

NEW YORK (AP) — The $5.9 billion acquisition of cellular carrier Alltel Corp. by Verizon Wireless will close next Friday, Verizon Communications Inc. said Friday in a regulatory filing.

The deal, which was announced in June, will make Verizon Wireless the country’s largest wireless carrier, with about 78 million subscribers.

Verizon Wireless had initially hoped to close the deal before the end of 2008, but the regulatory review stretched into December, later than expected. To gain approval for the deal, Verizon Wireless pledged to sell assets where its network overlaps with Alltel’s.

In addition to paying $5.9 billion for Alltel’s privately held equity, Verizon Wireless is assuming $22.2 billion in debt. Despite the difficult credit markets, Verizon said in December that it had received commitments from eight institutions to provide $17 billion of financing.

Verizon Wireless is a joint venture between Verizon Communications of New York and Vodafone Group PLC of the U.K.

Verizon says it will locate a call center in Little Rock, but many of the better-paying jobs among Alltel’s 3,000 employees in the city are expected to be lost.

Alltel has a call center in Boardman with about 400 employees.

On Friday, an Alltel spokesman referred questions about jobs after the closing to Verizon. A Verizon spokeswoman said the company would provide more information on the closing date.

When Verizon President and Chief Executive Lowell McAdam addressed an audience in Little Rock in August, he said it would take a year after the closing to assess which positions to keep and which to cut.

Alltel is based in Little Rock, Ark., and is the fifth-largest wireless carrier in the U.S. Its wide-ranging wireless network covers mainly the interior of the country. The company’s early strategy mirrored that of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which built in rural areas first and moved into cities later.