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LR Losing Alltel

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ndark Whistle-Stop

ndark

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We all knew this was going to happen eventually since they were bought by the private equity firm. I just didn't think talks would start up this soon. Verizon was always to me the only real option out of the existing carriers to possibly purchase Alltel due to them using the same technology. Even when I worked there many years ago Verizon purchasing them was always thought of as a forgone conclusion. It was just a matter of when.

http://www.forbes.com/reuters/feeds/reuter...ZON-URGENT.html

*please move to coffee shop forum if it is not an appropriate topic for here

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Architect Town

Architect

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Reports are circulating today that Verizon is in negotiations to purchase Alltel for $27B.

I suppose this was inevitable, but I'm ultimately disappointed that yet another LR company is rolling over to be a purchasee rather than purchasor (not sure those are actual words!) - though Alltel did conduct quite a few, large acquisitions over the years to grow their business. Ultimately, I'm concerned about the HQ...if they opt to keep much of the staff and separate the company such that LR is the base for rural wireless, than that would salvage some remnant of the employee base. But fundamentally, this is bad news for Little Rock.

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bchris02 Hamlet

bchris02

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Reports are circulating today that Verizon is in negotiations to purchase Alltel for $27B.

I suppose this was inevitable, but I'm ultimately disappointed that yet another LR company is rolling over to be a purchasee rather than purchasor (not sure those are actual words!) - though Alltel did conduct quite a few, large acquisitions over the years to grow their business. Ultimately, I'm concerned about the HQ...if they opt to keep much of the staff and separate the company such that LR is the base for rural wireless, than that would salvage some remnant of the employee base. But fundamentally, this is bad news for Little Rock.

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LRguy21 Whistle-Stop

LRguy21

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How many people work for Alltel?

Would the sale include Windstream?

This would really really be a major blow to the LR market. I dont know of what else could be in its place. Maybe Verizon would keep the LR headquaters. LR is WAY cheeper than NYC. but NYC is a Global Market.

This is not going to be fun to watch and see what plays out. Im hoping for the best. Praying for the best.

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Aporkalypse City

Aporkalypse

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How many people work for Alltel?

Would the sale include Windstream?

This would really really be a major blow to the LR market. I dont know of what else could be in its place. Maybe Verizon would keep the LR headquaters. LR is WAY cheeper than NYC. but NYC is a Global Market.

This is not going to be fun to watch and see what plays out. Im hoping for the best. Praying for the best.

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slyder1 Burg

slyder1

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Wow... I can't believe this. I would have never seen this coming for at least another 10 years. I doubt that they will do a major cut in jobs at the Little Rock headquarters, unless there is another midwest or southern city that would have a larger presence of Verison after the aqcuasition. I'm wanting to think that the Alltel Exec's had something to do with this maybe. You know, get their money and get out... but then again who would sell a major company unless your getting an obsured amount of money for it.

I guess only time will tell.

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bchris02 Hamlet

bchris02

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Wow... I can't believe this. I would have never seen this coming for at least another 10 years. I doubt that they will do a major cut in jobs at the Little Rock headquarters, unless there is another midwest or southern city that would have a larger presence of Verison after the aqcuasition. I'm wanting to think that the Alltel Exec's had something to do with this maybe. You know, get their money and get out... but then again who would sell a major company unless your getting an obsured amount of money for it.

I guess only time will tell.

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ndark Whistle-Stop

ndark

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I doubt that. The first thing Verizon will do is cost consolidation, which will most likely consist of laying off a majority of Alltel employees and the selling of the HQ. Verizon will probably offer jobs in NYC to some Alltel employees, but a majority will lose their jobs. All Verizon cares about is Alltel's infrastructure. They have their own employees to maintain it.
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LRguy21 Whistle-Stop

LRguy21

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Looks like its more than talk now:

http://dailybriefing.blogs.fortune.cnn.com...rms-alltel-buy/

What does this mean for LR? Will the city get the shaft? Maybe we can offer tax credits to keep an opperation here. This is going to be a major drag on the city. I hope the deal doesnt go through. This current administration is so all about having 2 or 3 large companies in every category. Airlines, Phone, Department Stores, etc. This is going to hit the city hard.

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ArkansasTraveler Whistle-Stop

ArkansasTraveler

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I don't like to be pessimistic, but a lot can happen in those 10+ years, for good and bad. And it took far longer than that for Alltel to carefully cultivate its business to its current rank in the marketplace. If anything, news like this underscores the need for the city and its citizens to be vigilant in looking for new opportunities to attract quality newcomers to the area, and foster the growth of native talent and resources.

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Aporkalypse City

Aporkalypse

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I doubt that. The first thing Verizon will do is cost consolidation, which will most likely consist of laying off a majority of Alltel employees and the selling of the HQ. Verizon will probably offer jobs in NYC to some Alltel employees, but a majority will lose their jobs. All Verizon cares about is Alltel's infrastructure. They have their own employees to maintain it.
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LRU1967 Whistle-Stop

LRU1967

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I'm not saying that in 10 years that LR will have another Fortune 500 company, but it is reasonable to assume that job growth among alot of smaller companies and firms might repair the damage done by this loss in at least 10+ years.
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Architect Town

Architect

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I hope that in ten years whatever damage the Alltel sale causes will be repaired. The question is what happens in the meantime. Little Rock has taken some big hits in the last 20 years. The corporate headquarters of both Arkla and AP&L are long gone. Southwestern Bell sharply reduced the Arkansas headquarters staff. Our large banks, First Commercial, Union National and Worthen, have been swallowed up by bigger fish resulting in staff reductions. The LR Branch of the Fed is just a shadow of what it was. The LR Federal Home Loan Bank moved to Dallas. The city managed to cope with these losses and continued to grow and prosper. But today's economic picture is grim and the lose of the Alltel jobs will be hard to overcome.
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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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Corporations tend to say this stuff during the process of a merger because they don't want everybody panicing and running. Hopefully as few jobs as possible will be cut, however from what I've heard only about 500 jobs out of the 3,200 currently fall into the 'safe' category.
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adman0468 Hamlet

adman0468

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I also believe that jobs added here will be lower paying than ones that will disappear. Right now, as a complete company, Alltel has positions of every caliber and pay level. After the merger, the higher end management will be elsewhere and we'll be left with mostly call center jobs.

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