Windstream Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: WIN) announced that it has received all state and federal regulatory approvals required for its merger with EarthLink Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: ELNK).

Windstream and EarthLink will each hold special meetings of their respective stockholders on Feb. 24 in connection with the merger, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017, subject to customary closing conditions.

The deal was announced in November 2016.  Windstream is acquiring EarthLink for a reported $1.1 billion.

Locally Windstream employs 650 people covering a number of jobs in the I.T. and engineering fields.  EarthLink employs 357 people in similar positions.  There has been no indication on how those jobs would be impacted with the merger.

Windstream Holdings, Inc., a FORTUNE 500 company, is a leading provider of advanced network communications and technology solutions for consumers, small businesses, enterprise organizations and carrier partners across the U.S. Windstream offers bundled services, including broadband, security solutions, voice and digital TV to consumers.

The company also provides data, cloud solutions, unified communications and managed services to business and enterprise clients. The company supplies core transport solutions on a local and long-haul fiber-optic network spanning approximately 125,000 miles. Additional information is available at windstream.com. Please visit our newsroom at news.windstream.com or follow us on Twitter at @Windstream.