Source: Cincinnati Bell Press Release

Cincinnati Bell (NYSE:CBB) has announced that it intends to publicly offer $500 million aggregate principal amount of senior notes due 2017. The offering and sale of the notes will be made pursuant to an automatic shelf registration statement on Form S-3 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The net proceeds of the offering will be used to call the company's outstanding 7¼% Senior Notes due 2013 pursuant to the call provision in an amount of $440 million plus accrued interest and call premium, as well as for other general corporate purposes.

Morgan Stanley will act as the Lead Bookrunning Manager for the senior note offering.

Source: Fairpoint Press Release 

FairPoint Communications (NYSE:FRP) (the "Company") has announced that it is in discussions with certain of the lenders under its bank credit facility regarding a permanent debt restructuring. The Company also announced that as part of those discussions, it has entered into a forbearance agreement with lenders that collectively hold more than 50 percent of the loans and commitments outstanding under the credit facility. The forbearance agreement contemplates that the Company may forgo principal and interest payments under its credit facility as well as payments under its interest rate swap agreements, totaling approximately $42.0 million, due on September 30, 2009, and is likely to fail to comply with the interest coverage ratio and leverage ratio covenants contained in the credit facility for the period ending September 30, 2009. Under the forbearance agreement, if these events of default or other specified events of default occur, the lenders have agreed to not accelerate the maturity of the loans outstanding under the credit facility or exercise any other remedies until October 30, 2009, subject to certain conditions.

FairPoint’s discussions with its bank lenders are focused on developing a restructuring plan that would be generally designed to (i) reduce the Company’s indebtedness and interest expense and (ii) improve the Company’s liquidity and financial and operational flexibility in order to allow it to compete more effectively and maximize the value of the enterprise. Such a restructuring plan may require a filing under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

There can be no assurance that any restructuring arrangement or plan that the Company pursues will be successful, or what the terms thereof would be or what, if anything, the Company’s existing debt or equity holders would receive in any restructuring.