FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Media: Patricia Cameron (318) 388-9674
[email protected]
Investors: Jeffrey S. Glover (318) 388-9648
[email protected]
CenturyTel adds nearly 360,000 telephone access lines in two transactions
Monroe, La., July 31, 2000 - CenturyTel, Inc.(NYSE Symbol: CTL) acquired nearly
360,000 telephone access lines in two transactions finalized today.
The Louisiana-based communications company purchased about 231,000
access lines in Arkansas from Verizon Communications (formerly GTE) for
approximately $824 million in cash. With this purchase, CenturyTel now serves
approximately 275,000 local exchange customers in Arkansas, making it the
state's second largest telephone company. The company also provides Internet
access, wireless, long distance and security monitoring services to
approximately 87,000 Arkansas customers.
In a separate transaction, Spectra Communications Group, LLC, acquired
about 127,000 access lines in Missouri for approximately $290 million in cash.
Spectra is a joint venture between CenturyTel; Spectronics Corporation, a
Georgia-based, African-American-owned telecommunications contractor; Local
Exchange Carriers, LLC, a private company based in Kansas City, Mo.; and other
African-American co-investors.
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"CenturyTel is pleased to announce the completion of these two
strategic acquisitions," Glen. F. Post, III, CenturyTel's president and chief
executive officer, said. "CenturyTel now operates more than 1.65 million
telephone access lines in 21 states. We expect these properties to make
significant contributions to CenturyTel's future growth."
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Customers in the acquired markets will see no changes in area codes,
telephone numbers or local calling numbers. In both transactions, employees in
the former GTE serving areas retained their positions with CenturyTel and
Spectra.
CenturyTel will finance these transactions through newly established
credit facilities with Bank of America, N.A. and Citibank, N.A. Depending upon
market conditions, the company expects to replace this facility with either a
commercial paper program, the issuance of long-term debt, equity or
equity-linked securities, monetization of non-core assets or some combination
thereof.
CenturyTel, Inc. provides integrated communications services including
local exchange, wireless, long distance, Internet access and security monitoring
services to more than 2.8 million customers in 21 states. The company,
headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana, is publicly traded on the New York Stock
Exchange under the symbol CTL. CenturyTel is the 7th largest local exchange
telephone company, based on access lines, and the 9th largest cellular company,
based on population equivalents owned, in the United States.
Visit CenturyTel's corporate Web site at (www.centurytel.com)
