Lumen Sells Fiber-to-Home for $5.75B, Slashes $300M Annual Interest
Lumen Technologies sold its Mass Markets fiber-to-home business to AT&T for $5.75 billion in cash, using $4.8 billion of net proceeds to retire super-priority bonds and reduce annual interest expense by $300 million. Total debt fell below $13 billion, down over $5 billion since January 2025.
1. Sale of Fiber-to-Home Business
Lumen completed the $5.75 billion sale of its Mass Markets fiber-to-home unit, including Quantum Fiber across 11 states, shifting focus to enterprise digital infrastructure. The cash transaction enabled deployment of proceeds toward debt reduction and strategic reinvestment in AI and enterprise networking.
2. Debt Reduction and Interest Savings
Using $4.8 billion of net proceeds, Lumen fully retired super-priority bonds, cutting annual interest expense by $300 million. Over the past year, the company executed seven refinancing deals totaling $11 billion and eliminated second-lien debt, reducing total debt by more than $5 billion since January 2025.
3. Remaining Leverage and Outlook
Despite these efforts, Lumen still carries nearly $13 billion in debt against 2025 revenues of $12.4 billion. The company forecasts 2026 net cash interest expense of $650 million to $750 million and expects capex to fall by over $1 billion, enhancing financial flexibility for its long-term strategy.