Nextel Communications to Sell $500 Mln in Convertible Debt
Bloomberg News
June 8, 1999, 2:06 p.m. ET
Nextel Communications to Sell $500 Mln in Convertible Debt
Reston, Virginia, June 8 (Bloomberg) -- Nextel
Communications Inc., which provides wireless phone services
nationwide, said it plans to sell $500 million of convertible
debt in a private placement.
Pricing and other financial details weren't available. The
Wall Street Journal earlier reported the sale.
The debt sales comes five weeks after MCI WorldCom Inc., the
No. 2 U.S. long-distance phone company, ended talks to buy
Nextel. Money-losing Nextel needs cash to develop new services
and pay for expansion of its network in the U.S. and overseas.
Last month, Microsoft Corp., the world's biggest software
maker, invested $600 million in Reston, Virginia-based Nextel,
gaining access to wireless Internet users.
Separately, Nextel announced its new Internet-ready phone is
available, a month ahead of schedule. The i1000plus phone, which
is made by Motorola Inc., has a World Wide Web browser that
allows users to access the Internet and upgraded voice features.
It will sell for $299, Nextel said.
Nextel's customers, who are companies such as construction
firms, will gain access to the Internet through their phones.
Nextel has said it will use the Microsoft investment to
develop advanced digital services, expand its national network
and fund expansion and development in other countries.
In the first quarter, Nextel's loss, including the payment
of preferred dividends, widened to $485.5 million, or $1.66 a
share. Sales more than doubled to $663.8 million from $327.1
million. |
