Internet providers OK $1.5B merger

PORTLAND, Maine -- Shareholders of telecommunications companies Consolidated Communications and FairPoint Communications voted Tuesday to approve a proposed merger.

Consolidated announced in December that it was buying FairPoint for $1.5 billion, assuming its debt and offering dividends to stockholders. Shareholder voting took place Tuesday at Consolidated in Illinois and at FairPoint in North Carolina.

FairPoint, based in Charlotte, N.C., is a telephone and Internet provider that serves homes, businesses and public institutions. The lion's share of FairPoint's business is in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Consolidated, based in Mattoon, Ill., provides business and broadband communications in 11 states. A merger with FairPoint would significantly broaden its portfolio.

FairPoint has a fiber-based Ethernet network with about 18,000 miles of fiber wires in northern New England and is a major player in telecommunications in the region.

There remain regulatory hurdles for the two companies to clear before the merger can be finalized.

Business on 03/29/2017

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