REG-VerizonCommunication: Verizon Sharpens Strategic Focus and Returns Value <Origin Href="QuoteRef">VZ.N</Origin>

Verizon CommunicationsAnnouncement

06/02/2015 07:00

Verizon Sharpens Strategic Focus and Returns Value to Investors With      
                     Transactions Valued at $15.54 Billion                     


Selling Wireline Assets in Three States to Frontier for $10.54 Billion;

Generating $5 Billion of Initial Cash for Wireless Towers in Transaction With
American Tower;

$5 Billion Share Repurchase


NEW YORK, Feb. 5, 2015 -- Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) today announced 
two major transactions designed to further sharpen its strategic focus:

  * Verizon has reached a definitive agreement to sell its local wireline
    operations serving customers in California, Florida and Texas to Frontier
    Communications Corporation (Nasdaq: FTR). Frontier will pay Verizon
    approximately $10.54 billion (approximately $9.9 billion in cash, plus $600
    million in assumed debt) for the business and related assets in these
    states.
  * Verizon has agreed to lease the rights to over 11,300 of its company-owned
    wireless towers to American Tower Corporation (NYSE: AMT), which will also
    purchase approximately 165 Verizon towers, for a total upfront payment of
    approximately $5 billion.

At the same time, Verizon is returning a significant amount of capital to its
shareholders through a $5 billion accelerated share-repurchase program entered
into today.

Verizon Chairman and CEO Lowell McAdam said: "Our long-standing strategy has
been to consistently invest in our networks, improve our customers' experience,
and develop new products and services while delivering profitable growth. These
transactions will further strengthen Verizon's focus on extending our industry
leadership position in our core markets and return significant value to our
shareholders."

Details of the Verizon - Frontier Transaction

Selling wireline operations in California, Florida and Texas to Frontier will
concentrate Verizon's wireline operations on the East Coast. Verizon will focus
on further penetrating the market for its FiOS business across a contiguous
footprint in Eastern states.

Frontier currently has access lines in 28 states, providing an array of voice,
broadband and video services, including landline assets purchased from Verizon
in 2009-2010.

Maggie Wilderotter, Frontier's chairman and chief executive officer, said:
"These properties align with Frontier's disciplined strategic focus and enhance
our footprint with rich fiber-based assets. We look forward to building on the
strong results Verizon has delivered in these three states. Frontier has a
solid track record of successful integrations, and we welcome the new employees
who will help us implement our local engagement model in these markets."

Completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions
including, among others, obtaining certain regulatory approvals. The companies
are targeting completing the transaction in the first half of 2016.

Approximately 11,000 Verizon company employees are expected to continue
employment with Frontier after the transaction. Frontier and Verizon will
provide a smooth transition for these employees.

As they did during the companies' previous transaction, Verizon and Frontier
transition teams will work to ensure that customer accounts, billing
information and other assets from the operations are successfully transferred
to Frontier and that the transition is seamless for customers as well as
employees.

The operations Frontier will acquire consist of all of Verizon's local wireline
operating territories in California, Florida and Texas. At the end of
fourth-quarter 2014, these operations served approximately 3.7 million voice
connections; approximately 2.2 million high-speed data customers, including
approximately 1.6 million FiOS Internet customers; and approximately 1.2
million FiOS Video customers.

The transaction includes Verizon's FiOS Internet and Video customers, switched
and special access lines, as well as its high-speed Internet service and
long-distance voice accounts in these three states. Frontier will continue to
provide video services in these states after the completion of the transaction.

The transaction does not include the services, offerings or assets of other
Verizon businesses, such as Verizon Wireless and Verizon Enterprise Solutions.

As of the end of fourth-quarter 2014, the consumer and mass business wireline
operations that Verizon is retaining provided service in nine states and the
District of Columbia and had approximately 16.1 million wireline voice
connections; 7.0 million high-speed data customers, including approximately 5.1
million FiOS Internet customers; and 4.5 million FiOS Video customers. The
states in Verizon's contiguous consumer wireline footprint are Connecticut,
Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Credit Suisse, Guggenheim Securities and PJT Partners advised Verizon on the
transaction.

Details of the Verizon - American Tower Transaction

In the wireless tower transaction, American Tower will have exclusive rights to
lease and operate over 11,300 Verizon cell towers, a significant majority of
the towers the company currently owns. In addition, Verizon will sell
approximately 165 towers outright.

The average term of the lease rights is about 28 years. As the leases expire,
American Tower will have fixed-price purchase options to acquire these towers
based on their anticipated fair market values at the end of the lease terms.

Verizon will sublease capacity on the towers from American Tower for a minimum
of 10 years for $1,900 per month per site, with annual rent increases of 2
percent. Verizon will have customary renewal options that could potentially
extend the full term of the sublease to 50 years.

Verizon will have access to additional reserve capacity on the towers for
future use and expects to use this additional capacity to help continuously
improve the nation's most reliable network.

During the terms of the leases, American Tower will have full operating rights
to and responsibilities for the towers. American Tower's rights will include
the ability to sublease other available space to other companies.

Verizon expects the transaction to close by mid-2015, subject to standard
closing conditions.

$5 Billion Returned to Shareholders Through Share Repurchase

Under the terms of the accelerated stock repurchase (ASR) agreement, Verizon
will repurchase $5 billion of its common stock and expects to receive an
initial delivery of shares having a value of approximately $4.25 billion. The
total number of shares that Verizon will repurchase under the ASR agreement
will be based generally upon the volume-weighted average share price of
Verizon's common stock during the term of the transaction.

Final settlement of the transaction under the ASR agreement, including delivery
of the remaining shares that Verizon expects to receive, is scheduled to occur
in the second quarter of 2015. Verizon is funding the ASR with cash on hand.

The ASR is in addition to Verizon's three-year share repurchase program
announced on March 7, 2014. Under the three-year program, Verizon is authorized
to repurchase 100 million shares of its common stock. That program is set to
terminate on Feb. 28, 2017, or when the aggregate number of shares purchased
under the program reaches 100 million, whichever date is earlier. To date, no
shares have been repurchased under the program.

Verizon Webcast Today

Verizon will provide further details of these transactions during a webcast at
5:15 p.m. Eastern Time today on Verizon's Investor Relations website, 
www.verizon.com/about/investors/, where presentation materials have been
posted.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a
global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline
communications services to consumer, business, government and wholesale
customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network,
with more than 108 million retail connections nationwide. Verizon also provides
converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's
most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions
to customers worldwide. A Dow 30 company with more than $127 billion in 2014
revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of 177,300. For more information,
visit www.verizon.com/news/.

VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and
biographies, media contacts and other information are available at Verizon's
online News Center at www.verizon.com/news/. The news releases are available
through an RSS feed. To subscribe, visit www.verizon.com/about/rss-feeds/.

Forward-Looking Statements

In this communication we have made forward-looking statements. These statements
are based on our estimates and assumptions and are subject to risks and
uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include the information concerning
our possible or assumed future results of operations. Forward-looking
statements also include those preceded or followed by the words "anticipates,"
"believes," "estimates," "hopes" or similar expressions. For those statements,
we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements
contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The
following important factors, along with those discussed in our filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), could affect future results and
could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the
forward-looking statements: adverse conditions in the U.S. and international
economies; the effects of competition in the markets in which we operate;
material changes in technology or technology substitution; disruption of our
key suppliers' provisioning of products or services; changes in the 
regulatory environment in which we operate, including any increase in 
restrictions on our ability to operate our networks; breaches of network or 
information technology security, natural disasters, terrorist attacks or 
acts of war or significant litigation and any resulting financial impact 
not covered by insurance; our high level of indebtedness; an adverse
change in the ratings afforded our debt securities by nationally accredited
ratings organizations or adverse conditions in the credit markets affecting the
cost, including interest rates, and/or availability of further financing;
material adverse changes in labor matters, including labor negotiations, and
any resulting financial and/or operational impact; significant increases in
benefit plan costs or lower investment returns on plan assets; changes in tax
laws or treaties, or in their interpretation; changes in accounting assumptions
that regulatory agencies, including the SEC, may require or that result from
changes in the accounting rules or their application, which could result in an
impact on earnings; and the inability to implement our business strategies.

SOURCE  Verizon Communications Inc.

CONTACT: Media Contacts: Alberto Canal, 908-559-6367,
alberto.c.canal@verizon.com; Harry Mitchell, 304-356-3404,
harry.j.mitchell@verizon.com; Bob Varettoni, 908-559-6388,
robert.a.varettoni@verizon.com



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