Citizens Completes Offer for Electric Lightwave

STAMFORD, Conn., June 20 -- Citizens Communications Co. has completed its cash tender offer at $0.70 per share for all of the outstanding publicly held Class A common shares of Electric Lightwave Inc. (ELI) that Citizens does not own.

In addition, Citizens will prepay all $400 million outstanding under ELI's bank facility and cancel all commitments thereunder by the end of June.

Citizens expects to complete a "short-form" merger in which ELI will become a wholly owned, not publicly traded, subsidiary of Citizens.