Level 3 Closes tw telecom Purchase: We Know Our Customers Needs Are Changing

Written by Kelly
October 31, 2014

The $7.3 billion deal doubles the number of salespeople in North America and means Level 3’s enterprise revenue in North America goes from about 65 percent to 70 percent of the region’s total revenue.

**Editor’s Note: Please click here for a recap of the biggest channel-impacting mergers in Q3 2014.**

Level 3 Communications Inc. closed its $7.3 billion acquisition of tw telecom on Friday.

tw telecom stockholders are receiving $10 of cash and 0.7 shares of Level 3 common stock for each share of tw telecom common stock they owned. tw telecom’s common stock stops trading on the NASDAQ when the market closes today and it will no longer be listed on NASDAQ. Level 3 trades on the NYSE.

The closing came a week after the FCC gave the deal its blessing, and in the same week as both companies’ shareholders also gave the union their thumbs-up. Level 3 had stated its intention to wrap up the purchase before its Nov. 5 earnings call. The $7.3 billion price tag includes the assumption of tw telecom’s $1.6 billion of debt.

Jeff Storey remains at the helm as president and CEO; in fact, only two tw telecom executives – John Blount and Harold Teets – are crossing over to the new organization. Larissa Herda, who served as tw telecom CEO for 16 years, said in June she would not join Level 3 and is taking an approximately $42 million payday instead.

The combined company serves enterprise, government and carrier customers around the world. tw telecom brings an extensive North America metro footprint to the mix. Here’s what Level 3 says it now offers in tandem with tw telecom:

Fiber networks with reach to North America, Latin America, EMEA and the Asia-Pacific region.
More than 200,000 route miles around the world, including 33,000 subsea route miles.
Services reaching more than 60 countries across six continents.
Approximately 30,000 network-connected buildings in the United States.
More than 50,000 customers worldwide.
More than 13,000 employees globally.
Double the salesforce numbers in North America

Level 3 also said its enterprise revenue in North America now goes from about 65 percent to 70 percent of the region’s total revenue.

“We know our customers’ needs are changing, and by bringing together these two…companies, we are taking the next step in the evolution of Level 3 and bringing us closer to realizing our vision of being the trusted connection to the networked world,” Storey said in a press release.

Shares of Level 3 rose more than 3 percent in trading just before noon on Friday.