Frontier Communications shareholders have voted to approve the company’s acquisition of Verizon’s local exchange businesses in 14 states, as well as certain related customer relationships.
Shareholders also voted to increase the number of authorized shares of Frontier common stock.
Various state regulators still need to ok the deal, but Frontier is confident the deal will be closed during the second quarter of 2010.
In May, Frontier offered Verizon $8.5 billion in stock to buy 4.8 million access lines in the 14 states. Frontier yesterday said it will issue shares to Verizon stockholders equal to $5.2 billion, and Verizon will receive $3.3 billion in the form of a special cash payment to boot.
The Communications Workers of America has come out in strong opposition to the impending deal. The union claims the buyer will end up being short on cash and that it is too small to integrate Verizon’s systems efficiently.
Frontier Communications is a provider of communication services to rural areas and small and medium-sized towns and cities. The access lines it is aiming to purchase from Verizon are located in Arizona, California, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.