Verizon’s Wireline Sale Target? Frontier

In a leak that will surprise nobody, various reports are out this morning naming the company that may be ready to take about $10B of landline assets off of Verizon’s hands. Yep, it’s still Frontier. 

The assets in question were also described in more detail than before, as fiber and copper from the former GTE territories in Florida, Texas, and California. The deal would be even larger than the last one, in which Frontier bought $8.6B in assets from Verizon.  Apparently that meal went well enough for the company to come back for another, larger plate.  Verizon likely wants out of these assets more than Frontier wants in, which means the smaller carrier is likely getting a deal on their terms.

Combined with a rumored $5-6B from the sale of its tower business, Verizon could raise $15-16B from its winter asset sales. That would help it afford the spectrum it bought last week at the FCC’s auction and pay down a little of the debt incurred in the $130B Vodafone deal last year.  And bit by bit, they are reducing the amount of legacy network they have to manage, refocusing ever more tightly on wireless and the fiber they’ve built out.

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Categories: ILECs, PTTs · Mergers and Acquisitions