Verizon offers to divest assets for Alltel deal (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Verizon Wireless, the No. 2 U.S. mobile service, has offered to divest assets in 85 cell phone markets in a bid to gain regulatory approval for its proposed $28.1 billion purchase of smaller rival Alltel. The venture of Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N) and Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L) said on Tuesday that it expects the deal to be finalized by the end of this year. It said in a July 22 letter to the U.S telecommunications regulator, the Federal Communications Commission, that it had identified 85 markets where the companies have overlapping properties after initial discussions with the U.S. Department of Justice, which examines anti-trust implications of mergers. Markets where Verizon Wireless said it would divest operations include the entire states of North Dakota and South Dakota and overlapping assets... [read full story]