S&P Rating Services raised the rating on over $3 billion of Windstream's debt to BBB from BBB-. This rating was due in part to Windstream's earlier payment of over $200 million of Term A debt. The repayment, earlier refinancing, and addition of CT Communication's assets to its collateral package all contributed to provide enough coverage for Windstream to take on secured debt.
Windstream completed an acquisition of CT Communications on August 31. The acquisition was announced in May. This deal added over 150,000 access lines and almost 30,000 broadband customers. According to CEO Jeff Gardner, this almost doubles Windstream's presence in North Carolina. Although the full results of this merger are yet to be seen, investors valued this deal enough to start raising stock prices a few days before actual completion. The relevant press release can be found here: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=198367&p=irol-newsArticle&id=1046924.
