EarthLink officially launches holding company

EarthLink (Nasdaq: ELNK) has begun a new chapter after completing the creation of its holding company structure on Tuesday.

The service provider announced during its third quarter earnings call that it was considering the formation a holding company with EarthLink, Inc., becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary. 

It said in a release that the new holding structure is not related to any specific or planned acquisition. Also, the new holding company structure will have no effect on the day-to-day operations of the company and its subsidiaries.

At 11:59 ET on Dec. 31, 2013, all of EarthLink's existing shares of common stock were "automatically converted into identical shares of EarthLink Holdings Corp.'s common stock on a one-for-one basis, and EarthLink, Inc.'s existing stockholders became stockholders of EarthLink Holdings Corp. in the same amounts and percentages as they were in EarthLink, Inc. prior to the reorganization."

EarthLink Holdings Corp. will trade on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange under the existing ticker symbol "ELNK." 

EarthLink is not the only service provider to create a holding company structure. Windstream (Nasdaq: WIN) created a holding company last year called Windstream Holdings, Inc., which became a new publicly traded parent company of Windstream Corp. and its various operating subsidiaries.

For more:
- see the release

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