NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Nov. 10, 2008--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that the ratings and outlook on Dallas-based diversified telecommunications carrier AT&T Inc. (A/Stable/A-1) are not affected by the company's announced agreement to acquire Wall, N.J.-based regional wireless provider Centennial Communications Corp. (B/Watch Pos/--). AT&T will pay about $944 million for Centennial's common stock, plus assume the company's nearly $1.4 billion in unsecured debt. In addition, under terms of its secured bank facility, Centennial's $550 million of term debt is required to be repaid under change of control provisions. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2009. We expect AT&T's leverage to remain in the low-2x area in 2009, even with this transaction.
