The Curse of the Verizon Deal

Verizon Communications divestitures haven't worked out too well for the buyers of the phone giant's assets. Three of them — involving Idearc, Hawaiian Telecom and FairPoint Communications — have recently been either in bankruptcy or near it. That track record makes Verizon boss Ivan Seidenberg "one of the best deal makers of his time, or one of the worst," wrote Deal Journal colleague Dennis K. Berman in May 2009. Now comes potential trouble for a fourth Verizon divestiture - last year's sale of 4.8 million Verizon access lines in 14 states to Frontier Communications Inc. for $5.8 billion. A regulator in one of those states, Illinois, has recommended against approving the deal, which would transfer about 550,000 Verizon access lines across the state into Frontier's hands.