I am no expert but I will try. First, there is no strict separation between acquisitions and mergers. It is often somewhere in between. If CenturyLink is valu

I am no expert but I will try. First, there is no strict separation between acquisitions and mergers. It is often somewhere in between. If CenturyLink is valued at $16.6 billion with $19 billion in debt, that means the company without debt would be worth $35.6 billion. Likewise Level 3 without debt would be worth 19.4 + 11 = $30.4 billion. The article says that "the value of the deal includes assumed debt", so they are really just paying 34-11= $23 billion for the Level 3 stock (I think). It also says they are getting $10.2 billion in new debt, meaning they are issuing ~$13 billion worth of new CenturyLink stock, and giving that to current Level 3 shareholders. If I calculated things right, CenturyLink shareholders will own about 56% of shares in the combined company, with Level 3 shareholders getting 44% plus some cash. The combined company will be worth about $26 billion, and have about $40 billion of debt, so the banks will wield quite a lot of power.