First Trade Date for CenturyTel, Inc.
| Company Name | First Trade Date (yyyy-mm-dd) |
| CenturyTel, Inc. | 1978-10-24 |
| Company Name | Symbol |
| CenturyTel, Inc. | CTL |
| History and Business of Company (this information may include date of incorporation) | |
|
General. CenturyTel, Inc. ("CenturyTel") is a regional integrated communications company engaged primarily in providing local exchange telephone services. For the year ended December 31, 2003, local exchange telephone operations provided 87% of the consolidated revenues from continuing operations of CenturyTel and its subsidiaries (the "Company"). All of the Company's operations are conducted within the continental United States. At December 31, 2003, the Company's local exchange telephone subsidiaries operated approximately 2.4 million telephone access lines, primarily in rural, suburban and small urban areas in 22 states, with over 70% of these lines located in Wisconsin, Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas and Washington. According to published sources, the Company is the eighth largest local exchange telephone company in the United States based on the number of access lines served. For more information, see "Telephone Operations." The Company also provides long distance, Internet access, fiber transport, competitive local exchange carrier, security monitoring, and other communications and business information services in certain local and regional markets. For more information, see "Other Operations." Recent acquisitions. In June 2003, the Company acquired the assets of Digital Teleport, Inc., a regional communications company providing wholesale data transport services to other communications carriers over its fiber optic network located in Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas, for $39.4 million cash. In addition, in December 2003, the Company acquired additional fiber transport assets in Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois from Level 3 Communications, Inc. for approximately $15.8 million cash. For additional information, see "Other Operations - Fiber Transport." On August 31, 2002, the Company purchased assets utilized in serving approximately 350,000 telephone access lines in the state of Missouri from Verizon Communications, Inc. ("Verizon") for approximately $1.179 billion cash. On July 1, 2002, the Company purchased assets utilized in serving approximately 300,000 telephone access lines in the state of Alabama from Verizon for approximately $1.022 billion cash. The assets purchased in these transactions included (i) the franchises authorizing the provision of local telephone service, (ii) related property and equipment comprising Verizon's local exchange operations in predominantly rural markets throughout Alabama and Missouri and (iii) Verizon's assets used to provide digital subscriber line ("DSL") and other high speed data services within the purchased exchanges. The acquired assets did not include Verizon's cellular, personal communications services ("PCS"), long distance, dial-up Internet, or directory publishing operations in these areas. On February 28, 2002, the Company purchased the fiber network and customer base of KMC Telecom's operations in Monroe and Shreveport, Louisiana which allows the Company to offer broadband and competitive local exchange services to customers in these markets. On July 31, 2000 and September 29, 2000, affiliates of the Company acquired assets utilized to provide local exchange telephone service to over 490,000 telephone access lines from Verizon in four separate transactions for approximately $1.5 billion in cash. Under these transactions: o On July 31, 2000, the Company purchased approximately 231,000 telephone access lines and related assets throughout Arkansas for approximately $842 million in cash. o On July 31, 2000, Spectra Communications Group, LLC ("Spectra") purchased approximately 127,000 telephone access lines and related assets throughout Missouri for approximately $297 million cash. At closing, the Company made a preferred equity investment in Spectra of approximately $55 million (which represented a 57.1% interest) and financed substantially all of the remainder of the purchase price. In the first quarter of 2001, the Company purchased an additional 18.6% interest in Spectra for $47.1 million. In the fourth quarter of 2003, the Company purchased an additional 24.3% interest in Spectra for $32.4 million in cash. o On September 29, 2000, the Company purchased approximately 70,500 telephone access lines and related assets throughout Wisconsin for approximately $197 million in cash. o On September 29, 2000, Telephone USA of Wisconsin, LLC ("TelUSA") purchased approximately 62,900 telephone access lines and related assets throughout Wisconsin for approximately $172 million in cash. The Company owns 89% of TelUSA, which was organized to acquire and operate these Wisconsin properties. At closing, the Company made an equity investment in TelUSA of approximately $37.8 million and financed substantially all of the remainder of the purchase price. In August 2000, the Company acquired the assets of CSW Net, Inc., a regional Internet service provider that offers dial-up and dedicated Internet access, and web site and domain hosting to more than 18,000 customers in 28 communities in Arkansas. The Company continually evaluates the possibility of acquiring additional communications assets in exchange for cash, securities or both, and at any given time may be engaged in discussions or negotiations regarding additional acquisitions. The Company generally does not announce its acquisitions or dispositions until it has entered into a preliminary or definitive agreement. Although the Company's primary focus will continue to be on acquiring interests that are proximate to its properties or that serve a customer base large enough for the Company to operate efficiently, other communications interests may also be acquired and these acquisitions could have a material impact upon the Company. Recent Dispositions. On August 1, 2002, the Company sold substantially all of its wireless operations principally to an affiliate of ALLTEL Corporation ("Alltel") for an aggregate of approximately $1.59 billion in cash. In connection with this transaction, the Company divested its (i) interests in its majority-owned and operated cellular systems, which at June 30, 2002 served approximately 783,000 customers and had access to approximately 7.8 million pops (the estimated population of licensed cellular telephone markets multiplied by the Company's proportionate equity interest in the licensed operators thereof), (ii) minority cellular equity interests representing approximately 1.8 million pops at June 30, 2002, and (iii) licenses to provide PCS covering 1.3 million pops in Wisconsin and Iowa. As a result, the Company's wireless operations are reflected as discontinued operations in the Company's accompanying consolidated financial statements. In the second quarter of 2001, the Company sold to Leap Wireless International, Inc. 30 PCS operating licenses for an aggregate of $205 million. The Company received approximately $118 million of the purchase price in cash at closing and collected the remainder in installments through the fourth quarter of 2001. In June 1999, the Company sold all of the operations of its Brownsville and McAllen, Texas, cellular systems to Western Wireless Corporation for approximately $96 million cash. The Company received its proportionate share of the sale proceeds of approximately $45 million after-tax. In May 1999, the Company sold substantially all of its Alaska telephone and wireless operations for approximately $300 million after-tax. In February 2000, the Company sold its interest in Alaska RSA #1, which completed the Company's divestiture of its Alaska operations. Where to find additional information. The Company makes available free of charge on its website (www.centurytel.com) filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K as soon as reasonably practicable after such filings are made with the SEC. The Company also makes available free of charge on its website its Corporate Governance Guidelines, its Corporate Compliance Program and the charters of its audit, compensation, risk evaluation, and nominating and corporate governance committees. The Company will furnish printed copies of these materials upon the request of any shareholder. Other. As of December 31, 2003, the Company had approximately 6,720 employees, approximately 1,800 of whom were members of 13 different bargaining units represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Communications Workers of America. Relations with employees continue to be generally good. CenturyTel was incorporated under Louisiana law in 1968 to serve as a holding company for several telephone companies acquired over the previous 15 to 20 years. CenturyTel's principal executive offices are located at 100 CenturyTel Drive, Monroe, Louisiana 71203 and its telephone number is (318) 388-9000. | |
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: By reading any of the material on this website you agree to our DISCLAIMER: The Magi Society, Magi Astrologers Worldwide Corporation make no claims whatsoever concerning the validity of the information provided herein, and will not be held liable for any use thereof. No information or opinion expressed here is a solicitation to buy or sell securities, bonds, real estate, commodities, options, futures or any financial instruments whatsoever.
Back to first trade date main page
© 1999-2008 by Magi Astrologers Worldwide Corporation. All Rights Reserved.