CenturyLink delays closing of Level 3 acquisition, awaits final state, federal regulatory approvals

CenturyLink has moved the date of closing its pending acquisition of Level 3 to the end of October, giving remaining state and federal regulators more time to complete reviews.

The service provider still needs approvals from the State of California, the Department of Justice and the FCC.

Last Friday, the California Administrative Law Judge proposed a decision that recognized the combination of CenturyLink and Level 3 was in the public interest and recommended the California Public Utilities Commission approve the transaction at its Oct. 12 meeting. CenturyLink said it now anticipates the deal will close in mid-to-late October 2017.

RELATED: CenturyLink gets 4 additional state approvals for Level 3 acquisition

On Friday, California's Public Utilities Commission proposed approving a settlement on CenturyLink's $34 billion acquisition of Level 3 Communications, applying conditions to the deal.

The proposed decision by Administrative Law Judge Regina DeAngelis makes the approval conditional on a commitment by CenturyLink/Level 3 to spend at least $232 million in the state over three years. However, it’s a preliminary step and needs final approval.

Originally, CenturyLink anticipated it would finalize the remaining state, federal and international approvals to complete the acquisition by the end of September.

Glen Post, CEO and Chairman of CenturyLink, said in a release that the delay will not affect the network and operational integration activities required to bring the two companies together.

Glen F. Post

Glen Post

“We view the slight delay in our projected closing date as manageable, and it does not affect our integration planning process,” Post said in a release. “Both teams are ready to begin the integration process as soon as closing occurs.”

Following state approvals from Mississippi and Washington, CenturyLink had a total of 23 state approvals by the beginning of August.