Lumen sold parts of its incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) business (currently operating under the CenturyLink brand) that serves consumers, small businesses, wholesale, local enterprises, and government entities in 20 Midwest and Southeast states, and parts of NJ and PA, as follows:

Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Lumen retained its local incumbent network and assets in 16 states including:

Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Lumen retained its national fiber routes and competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) networks in all 36 states.

The transaction provides Brightspeed with a robust, scaled local network, along with the operations and back-office support to meet the accelerating demand for high-bandwidth connectivity and fiber technology.

This transaction was valued at approximately $7.5 billion, representing a multiple of ~5.5x 2020 estimated EBITDA.

The transaction closed October 3, 2022.

Brightspeed is a dynamic new company comprised of industry leaders committed to enhancing the service experience for new and existing customers to create a next-generation telecom and connectivity business. Brightspeed currently plans to invest at least $2 billion to build a network that will bring faster, more reliable Internet and Wi-Fi to communities throughout the Midwest, Southeast, and certain parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. At closing, Brightspeed was comprised of the incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) assets and associated former operations of Lumen Technologies across 20 states and will be owned by funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE: APO).

Customers served by the Lumen ILEC network transitioned to Brightspeed when the transaction closed.