Qwest Communications International Inc., the fourth-biggest U.S. local-telephone company, may boost the size of a new loan by another $250 million to $1.75 billion because of strong demand from investors.
The original amount was $1 billion, Denver-based Qwest said in a statement. On Monday, Qwest said it was considering an increase to $1.5 billion. The loan, announced last week, is being arranged by Merrill Lynch & Co., Credit Suisse First Boston and Deutsche Bank, who will break the debt into pieces and sell it to investors.
Qwest, restricted from selling bonds publicly because of U.S. accounting probes, will use the proceeds to pay off debt due this year, buying more time to meet payments on more than $22 billion in borrowings. The company was near bankruptcy in August before agreeing to sell its phone-book unit for $7.05 billion.