Windstream-PAETEC Merger Gets Final Approval

Little Rock-based Windstream Corp. has received federal regulatory approval to move forward on its $2.3 billion buyout of New York-based PAETEC Holding Corp.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) signed off on the deal allowing the transaction to close by Dec. 1.

“This merger creates a $6 billion company with nationwide reach and continues Windstream’s transformation to a next-generation communications and technology provider with a full suite of enterprise-focused solutions,” said Jeff Gardner, Windstream president and CEO.

The Windstream-PAETEC merger was announced earlier this year, and just last week, Windstream announced it would keep a healthy number of jobs in Rochester, New York as well as a corporate building in Fairport, New York.

It seems that the jobs announcement was pivotal to receiving FCC approval.

The city of Rochester had initially protested the merger citing investments made by the state of New York to prepare a site location for PAETEC. “Investment might be wasted,” Rochester city officials wrote the FCC earlier this year.

They later acquiesced after the jobs announcement, which will keep 335 employees in Rochester. “Windstream’s commitments lead the City to believe that the public interest has been protected,” officials stated.