FCC Approves Sprint's Purchase Of Nextel Partners

RESTON, Va. (AP)--Sprint Nextel said Tuesday that the Federal Communications Commission has cleared its proposed purchase of outstanding shares in the company's largest affiliate, Nextel Partners.

Sprint Nextel, based in Reston, Va., with operational headquarters in Overland Park, Kan., said it expected to close the deal next Monday. Nextel Partners shareholders will receive $28.50 per share, a slight premium from the $28.47 share price at the end of trading Tuesday, making the deal worth around $6.5 billion.

Sprint Nextel announced in December the proposal to buy the two-thirds shares it didn't already own, after months of bitter legal wrangling and a formal appraisal of how much the shares were worth. A provision in Nextel Partners' charter required Sprint to buy the outstanding shares when it acquired Nextel Communications Inc. last August in a $35 billion deal that created the nation's third-largest wireless carrier.

Nextel Partners has 1.8 million customers in 31 states and reported 2005 revenue of $1.8 billion.

Sprint Nextel announced the FCC's decision after the markets closed Tuesday. Its shares, after sinking to a new 52-week low of $19.33 on the New York Stock Exchange, recovered and finished up 19 cents at $20.26.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires "

Posted to the site on 21st June 2006