Cogent: Qwest Asking Too Much for Long-Haul Assets

Cogent Communications Group Inc. (CCOI) said Monday it was thinking of buying Qwest Communications International Inc.’s (Q) long-haul assets, but changed its mind because the asking price is just too high.

“The combination of the management’s expectation of valuation coupled with [its] negative cash flow quickly led us to conclude that we were not going to be an active bidder on that asset,” Cogent CEO Dave Schaeffer said, according to Telephony.

Qwest reportedly wants between $2 billion and $3 billion for the long-haul network. The Denver-based RBOC has debt coming due and apparently thinks selling an asset as valuable as its long-haul infrastructure would make up for the loss of much out-of-region and government business.