(Bloomberg) -- Verizon Communications Inc. has lined up $10 billion of short-term bank funding to help fund its purchase of Frontier Communications Parent Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.
Morgan Stanley is leading a group of banks on the committed financing known as a bridge loan, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the details are private. Verizon said last month that it aimed to close the acquisition within about 18 months if regulators and Frontier’s shareholders agree to it.
Bridge loans provided by banks for mergers and acquisitions are eventually replaced with permanent financing, like investment-grade bonds sold to institutional investors.
A representative for Morgan Stanley declined to comment. Representatives for Verizon and Frontier didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Verizon agreed to buy telecommunications operator Frontier last month for about $9.59 billion to expand its high-speed internet business. Telecommunications companies like Verizon are bulking up on fiber-optic assets to add capacity for customers’ surging data use. The flow of data is expected to increase further as more companies adopt artificial intelligence.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.