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US: FCC approves CenturyLink-Level 3 merger

By  |  October 30, 2017

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved the CenturyLink-Level 3 merger. The deal had already been approved by the Justice Department.

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    “The FCC’s approval of CenturyLink’s acquisition of Level 3 is great news and means we now have all the regulatory approvals we need to close the transaction,” said CenturyLink senior vice president for public policy and government relations John F. Jones. “We anticipate closing the transaction effective November 1, 2017.”

    Deal watchers, including the companies involved, were looking for a decision any day out of the FCC on CenturyLink’s purchase of Level 3 Communications after the FCC restarted the unofficial 180-day shot clock on its vetting of the merger October 6, with 170 days on the clock. At press time Friday, October 20, the FCC was in day 184.

    CenturyLink had projected an end-of-September close but signaled last month as that date approached that it was moving that projection to mid-to-late October. It turned out to be the latter.

    The merger, which would boost CenturyLink’s enterprise and wholesale broadband business data services, was announced October 31 of last year and applications were filed with the FCC and for antitrust review by the Department of Justice in December. The merger was valued at US$34 billion including debt.

    Full Content: Wall Street Journal

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