US West to Issue $525 Million of New Stock

US West Inc. has filed plans to make its first stock offering in its six-year history to raise about $525 million for several projects, company officials said.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, US West disclosed plans to offer 14 million new shares of common stock.

The stock fell 25 cents Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange to $74.75. The new shares will be offered after the 2-for-1 stock split the company announced on April 6.

The split and the stock offering are designed to raise interest in the company among small investors, a company spokesman said.

Money raised by the sale will help fund several pending projects, including expansion of core-phone service in the company’s 14-state service region, US West said. The money also will help the company expand its financial services arm and finance cable television projects in Hong Kong and Great Britain, it said.

The offering will bring the total number of outstanding US West shares to 389.1 million.

Englewood-based US West was one of the seven Baby Bell companies formed by the breakup of American Telephone & Telegraph in 1984.