Windstream Holdings Inc. of Little Rock on Wednesday said it has received regulatory approval from all of the state public service commissions required before its real estate investment trust could spin off from the company.
Windstream said in a news release that the approvals for the spinoff, which has been named Communications Sales & Leasing, Inc., would allow the company to move forward as planned.
“Securing these regulatory approvals is an important milestone in our work and affirms the compelling benefits of the transaction to consumers and businesses,” Windstream Director Francis X. “Skip” Frantz, who will serve as chairman of CS&L’s board, said in a statement. “The spinoff remains a strategic priority for Windstream and with the state regulatory approval process complete, we are focused on executing the final steps of the transaction.”
Windstream said earlier this month that it had leased office space for the spinoff and that employees will begin work there by the end of March.
Shareholders will vote Feb. 20 at a called meeting on whether to approve a 1-for-6 reverse stock split and an amendment to subsidiary Windstream Corp.’s certificate of incorporation, which will convert Windstream Corp. into a limited liability company.
Windstream will retain 19.9 percent of the new company’s shares, with the remaining shares going to stockholders.
The company announced in July that it would spin off certain assets into the REIT, but the timing was extended from the first quarter to the first half of the year when CEO Jeff Gardner resigned in December. Tony Thomas, who has been selected to lead the REIT, replaced Gardner as CEO of Windstream and the search for the spinoff’s CEO is ongoing.