Res 2011-094 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CenturyLink- 2008 In October CenturyTel agreed to acquire EMBARQ for approximately $5.8 billion in stock based on the October 24, 2008, closing price of CenturyTel's common stock and the assumption of approximately $5.8 billion of debt. EMBARQ traces its roots back to 1899, when Cleyson Brown formed the Brown Telephone Company in Abilene, Kansas. By 1991, the company was known as Sprint. In December, 2004, Sprint announced a merger with wireless provider Nextel and its subsequent plan to spin off its Local Telecommunications Division (LTD) into an independent company. The spin -off, Embarq Corporation, was formed on May 17, 2006, with its first day of trading on the NYSE on May 18, 2006 (symbol: EQ). EMBARQ served parts of 18 states, including Nevada (Las Vegas), Florida, North Carolina and Ohio. CenturyTel announced a new dividend policy increasing its quarterly dividend from $.0675 to $.70 per share beginning in the third quarter 2008. 2007 CenturyTel expanded operations in Alabama and Illinois and into Georgia and North Carolina with the acquisition of approximately 165,000 access lines and 2,400 - mile -long fiber network from Madison River Communications. 2006 In July CenturyTel completed the Accelerated Share Repurchase program announced in 2005. In May CenturyTel sold all of its assets in Arizona to Hopi Telecommunications, Inc. (HTI), exiting the state as a service provider. At the time of the sale, CenturyTel served three exchanges with approximately 2,000 customers. 2005 The company invested $438 million to repurchase 12.9 million shares of common stock under an Accelerated Share Repurchase program, which mitigated the dilutive effect of equity units settled in May 2005. In June, CenturyTel completed its acquisition of fiber networks in 16 markets, primarily in the central United States, from KMC Telecom Holdings, Inc. (KMC). With this purchase, CenturyTel added key markets to its footprint across Alabama (Huntsville and Montgomery), Indiana (Fort Wayne), Kansas (Topeka), Louisiana (Baton Rouge), Michigan (Lansing and Ann Arbor), Minnesota (Eden Prairie), Mississippi (Biloxi /Gulfport), Ohio (Akron, Dayton and Toledo), Tennessee (Chattanooga), Texas (Corpus Christi and Longview) and Wisconsin (Madison). 2004 In February, CenturyTel initiated a stock repurchase program allowing it to repurchase up to an aggregate of $400 million of either its common stock or convertible equity units. In December, CenturyTel announced completion of its $400 million stock repurchase program, returning more than $430 million through share repurchases and cash dividends.