It has taken a year and a day to jump through all the regulatory hoops, but the CenturyLink/Level 3 deal finally closed this morning.
The $34 billion merger puts the combined company 51% in the hands of former CenturyLink shareholders and 49% in the hands of former Level 3 shareholders.
CenturyLink's asset base now spans 450,000 route miles worldwide, 90,000 or so within 350 metro areas connecting more than 100,000 buildings with fiber.
The company employs some 52,500 people and its revenues now stand at about $24 billion annually, about half of which is of the strategic enterprise variety.
Now the hard part begins - the integration. The expected synergies of $975 million annually described in the initial announcement will take some time and elbow grease to derive, of course.
This article was authored by Rob Powell and was originally posted on Telecomramblings.com
Rob Powell is founder & editor of Telecom Ramblings, which was set up in 2008. The website is dedicated to discussing trends and developments in the telecoms industry.