McLeodUSA to Buy CapRock for $197 Million in Stock

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, Oct. 5 -- Telecommunications provider McLeodUSA Inc. will tack on four new states to its service area and expand its fiber optic network with the acquisition of CapRock Communications Inc., the company said. McLeodUSA has agreed to issue $197 million of its stock for CapRock Communications, which will operate under the same name and remain at its Dallas location. The agreement states that shareholders of CapRock will exchange each of their shares for 0.3876 shares of McLeodUSA class A common stock. Also, McLeodUSA will assume about $335 million of CapRock's debt and issue close to 15.1 million new shares to complete the transaction.