The spinoff of wireless provider Alltel Corp.'s landline business and its merger with Valor Communications Group Inc. has formed Windstream Corp., a publicly traded company focused on serving rural telecommunications needs, the companies announced this week. As part of a merger agreement reached in December, Valor Communications -- now Windstream -- has issued approximately 403 million shares of common stock to Alltel shareholders, who will continue to own one share of the remaining wireless entity. Under terms of the deal, Alltel shareholders are entitled to receive 1.03 shares of Valor stock for each share of Alltel they own. Alltel shareholders entitled to fractional shares will receive cash payments instead. Windstream, which has 8000 employees and operates in 16 states, began trading yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol WIN. The company will be a member of the S&P 500 index and said it expects to pay a regular quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share. Windstream said its broadband service is expected to be available to approximately 80 percent of its customers by the end of the year. For more information, visit: www.windstream.com