Article: $710 million deal for Eschelon; The Minneapolis telecom firm will be bought by an Oregon company.(BUSINESS)

Byline: Steve Alexander; Staff Writer

Business telephone service provider Eschelon Telecom Inc. of Minneapolis, one of the more high-profile competitors of Qwest during the past decade, is being acquired by Integra Telecom Inc. of Portland, Ore., in a deal valued at $710 million.

The $30-a-share Integra offer represents a 17 percent premium over Monday's $25.59 closing price. In addition to paying $566 million in cash, Integra will repay $144 million in Eschelon debt. Richard Smith, Eschelon CEO, will become a member of Integra's board. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.

Both Eschelon and Integra are part of a group of upstart local telephone ...

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