The merger between Global Crossing and Level 3 Communications does not raise any competition or public interest concerns, the telecommunications carriers asserted last month in a Federal Communications Commission filing seeking approval for the $3 billion transaction.
U.S. regulators don’t need to impose specific conditions in order to approve the merger or conduct an extended review of the transaction, Global Crossing and Level 3 wrote in the FCC application dated May 12.
Level 3 announced plans in April to acquire Global Crossing in a tax-free, stock-for-stock agreement that would create a company with ownership over networks in more than 50 countries and connections to more than 70 countries.
The FCC must review the merger to determine whether it will serve the public interest, convenience and necessity.
Global Crossing and Level 3 said the transaction will meet that test “by offering customers an expanded suite of services – globally-delivered transport, Internet protocol-based … data, content delivery, data center, collocation, and voice services – and more extensive geographic reach in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia with a combination of intercity and metro networks and undersea cable facilities."
The merger also will help Level 3 compete with larger rivals, such as AT&T and Verizon Business, according to the FCC filing.
In a public notice last week, the FCC set forth the deadlines for filing comments on the merger.
Organized as a Bermuda-exempted limited liability company with principal executive offices in Hamilton, Bermuda, and principal administrative offices in Florham Park, N.J., Global Crossing (through its subsidiaries) owns a global IP-based fiber-optic network directly connecting more than 300 cities in 30 countries. Global Crossing supports corporations, government agencies and telecommunications carriers. Its competitor, Level 3, is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Broomfield, Colo. Level 3 offers IP-based services, broadband transport, collocation and other services over a fiber-optic network in North America, Europe and Asia.
The merger would create a communications company with pro forma combined 2010 revenues of $6.26 billion.
