By Brian Eriksen Noer, InvestingInWireless.com
December 2004

Sprint and Nextel Communications are close to completing a more than US $36 billion mega merger that would unite the number 3 and number 5 ranked communications firms. The combined company will be able to compete more fiercely with rival firms Verizon and Cingular Wireless, and provide services to 39 million customers.  

According to the Wall Street Journal, quoting information from sources within the deal, Sprint will issue 1.3 shares for each share of Nextel. The deal would also involve a small amount of cash providing Sprint with a slightly larger ownership stake in the company for tax purposes. An agreement could be announced as early as next week.  

Following the alleged news, Nextel Communications Inc. dropped 5 cents to $29.76 and Sprint slipped 14 cents to $24.14. Nextel’s business consists largely of high-end corporate customers, while Sprint's customer base is a more middle-of-the-road market of adolescents and families. Analysts forecast that this mixture of clients could be a complementary fit. Neither company has been available for comment. 

Brian Noer

Brian Noer has a degree in Business and Economics from the University of Western, Ontario. His career in the financial markets spans fifteen years and several continents, including: Manager with The Bank of Montreal in Canada, Associate Analyst with the structured finance group at Moody’s Investor Services in the UK, and Editor for several financial trade magazines in the UK for both Thomson Financial Publishing and Euromoney PLC (titles include Thomson’s trade magazines “The International Securitisation Report”, and “Capital Market Strategies”, and Euromoney’s “Asset Finance International”). Brian recently joined the InvestorIdeas.com portal team as a Writer, Editor and Research Associate.

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