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 Alltel Corp.'s CEO Scott Ford may be telling all concerning Verizon Communications Inc.'s $28.1 billion purchase of his company to the Arkansas News Bureau, but take it with a grain of salt. The entire article could be a public relations stunt to spin potential job losses because of the acquisition.
Ford spoke about the acquisition with the Stephens Media Group publication in an exclusive interview earlier this week. In the interview Ford said that the company tried to remain independent and actually considered acquiring competitors Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T Wireless "as a public company" numerous times, but luck just wasn't on Alltel's side. "We tried to buy Sprint three times, we tried to buy AT&T Wireless, we tried to buy T-Mobile," Ford said. "Some of those times we went with partners, some of those times we didn't. We were doing everything we could to get to a national platform." So why did Ford give an exclusive interview to Arkansas News Bureau rather than, say, The Wall Street Journal or The New York Times? Well, Ford has a long relationship with the Stephens Media Group. Before Ford took over for his father as Alltel's CEO in 2002, he served as an M&A expert for Stephens Group LLC, a family owned investment firm. He also served as "the point man" when Stephens bought Donrey Media Group in 1993. After the acquisition Donrey Media was renamed Stephens Media Group, not coincidently. Nonetheless, it is hardly a surprise that Verizon Wireless scooped up Alltel. However, it was not expected that a deal would materialize so soon after TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners agreed to take the rural wireless operator private in May 2007 -- the transaction with Verizon was announced June 5. - Maria Woehr See TheDeal.com: Conditions likely for Verizon-Alltel CategoriesComments
From: A Little Rock employee,
I think Scott has handled the merger well. Sure, he's going to spin things to an extent, but he has also been very candid about potential job loss. In the corporate meetings held at the Jack Stephens Center, he was very open about the possibility of job loss, yet made it clear that at this point, no one knows for sure so there is no need for widespread panic in Little Rock. It's not the ideal situation I would have wanted, but I do see that it's all business. What else was TPG to do with a deal like the one Verizon presented?
Posted on:
June 30, 2008 11:51 AM
From: Concerned Alltel Employee,
The poster reminds me of the scene in Animal House during the riot, all is calm, don't panic....fact of the matter is these handful of guys and gals made a killing and the little guy will be left holding the bag. Guess the most telling statment was made during the town hall meeting right after the announcement with the employees, an employee stood up and spoke during the Q&A and asked Ford if he hadn't ran to Goldman\TPG in the first place and made the offer to sell would we be in this position? Bottom line is this whole deal was about making a few very very rich beyond their dreams....the side effects will be a very much crippled Central Arkansas area as these were high paying jobs in a state that is near the bottom in wages.
Posted on:
July 3, 2008 9:34 AM
From: Alltel Employee,
Ford is a low life scum bag that could care less about the people he employs. He is actually quoted as saying he thinks about Business first, economy second, and employees last. Real nice, thanks boss. Ford has also stated that it's time to "get over it". Easy for him to say concidering he made a $194,000,000 salary last year, and I'm not even gonna say what he gets for selling his daddies company. Comments like "I was shocked when this happend" make me sick. I saw this coming the second that Alltel was sold to TPG, and if he didn't see it coming too, then he is dumber than I could have ever imagined. I have absolutely no respect for this man. He may want to consider moving outside of the country when this is all said and done, because I know a lot of people who are going to be struggling to survive because of this guy, and wouldn't mind having a few words with him.
Posted on:
September 4, 2008 3:14 PM
From: "Temporary Verizon Employee",
Alltel sold out in May 2007 to TPG. The top 4 executives walked away with over $322 million. After taking the company away from public to private it was just a matter of time until Verizon snatched up Alltel. Scott Ford, as Alltel's CEO earned $141.7 million in compensation in 2007 according to Fortune making him #5 out of 50 top U.S. executives. Jeffrey Fox Alltel's COO earned $67.5 million good for #12 of 50. Richard Massey Chief Strategy Officer earned $55.6 million earning a respectable #16 of 50. http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fortune/0809/gallery.women_men_highest_pay.fortune/5.html
Posted on:
January 16, 2009 9:38 PM
From: Independent thinker,
The whole private equity deal was just a save face tactic for Scott Ford and his cronies, and GS would make a few bucks for their efforts. OK, here's the scenario, Scott Ford, well respected businessman and hero in Little Rock and Arkansas circles. Scott Ford makes a decision that puts thousands of people out of work and destroys the economy of LR and negatively impacts the economy of the entire state for years to come. So what of our hero now? Wait, Scott Ford had nothing to do with the sale of Alltel to VZW, it was all the new owners doing. "I knew nothing about it, I can't stand VZ CEO Seidenberg." So why all the trips to Teterboro before they blocked the corporate jets (all FOUR of them no less) over a year ago. Anyone who believes anything coming out of Scott Ford's mouth is either naive or stupid. This whole deal was planned for years and with the economic collapse and guarantee of a non-merger friendly administration, the schedule was moved up and aggressively completed before the inauguration. Note that this change in plan can be easily explained by the simple fact that Goldman Sachs knew of the economic collapse long before it happened, because they were responsible.
Posted on:
January 28, 2009 3:10 PM
From: John,
Very Important Notice Looking for Alltel employee's with former GTE/Verizon employment and Verizon employee's with former Alltel employment
Posted on:
March 28, 2009 9:27 AM
From: John,
If you are a former Alltel or GTE employee you should see what Verizon is doing to your Pension. www.JohnKapili.com
Posted on:
April 14, 2009 3:43 PM
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Yes Scott Ford is speaking with forked tongue, they had this planned for at least a year if not longer. Anyway over 3500 will be jobless in the coming few months in a state that has few jobs to begin with, I suspect the banks will be getting a great many homes back as they will not be able to sell them.
Concerned Alltel employee