Shares of CenturyLink Inc. surged 1.4% in premarket trade Friday, after the communications company announced a deal to sell its data centers and colocation business to a group led by BC Partners for $2.15 billion in cash and a minority stake in the company valued at $150 million. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017. CenturyLink plans to use the proceeds from the sale to help fund its acquisition of Level 3 Communications Inc. , a $25 billion deal announced earlier this week. CenturyLink’s stock has lost 8.6% year to date through Thursday, while the iShares U.S. Telecommunications ETF has gained 2% and the S&P 500 has tacked on 2.2%.
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