DENVER-U S West Inc. said it hopes to finish the split of its two companies, U S West Communications Inc. and MediaOne Group, by mid-June after clearing all major legal and regulatory hurdles.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has completed its review of the company’s proxy statement, which details U S West’s plan to separate its 14-state telecommunications and directory publishing operations, and its domestic cable TV and overseas’ operations into two stand-alone companies.
The SEC review represents the last major government step required to complete the split. It also clears the way for owners of each of U S West’s two classes of stock to vote on the proposal, the next required step in the transition process, said U S West.
The SEC action comes less than a week after the Internal Revenue Service ruled that the split would be tax-free, for both the company and its shareowners. U S West had said it would not go ahead with the split without the tax-free treatment.
U S West now will print the proxy and begin mailing it to shareowners April 20. Shareowners will be asked to vote on the split at the company’s annual shareowner meeting set for June 4.
