Nextel, VoiceStream Rise on Bids for Wireless Competitor Sprint
quote.bloomberg.com
Reston, Virginia, Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Nextel Communications Inc. and VoiceStream Wireless Corp. rose as much as 9.3 percent and 7.5 percent, as investors, spurred on by a bidding war over Sprint Corp., bet the two wireless operators could be acquired next.
Reston, Virginia-based Nextel rose 4 7/8, or 6.9 percent, to 75 3/4 in midafternoon trading, rising as high as 76 3/4 earlier. Bellevue, Washington-based VoiceStream rose 3 3/4, or 6.4 percent, to 62 13/16 and earlier reached 63 1/2.
BellSouth Corp. and MCI WorldCom Inc. have made rival offers for No. 3 U.S. long-distance company Sprint, which also owns the nationwide wireless network MCI WorldCom says it needs. After Sprint is acquired, Nextel and VoiceStream are the only independent companies left with nationwide wireless networks, said Christopher Larson, an analyst with Prudential Securities.
''Once we figure out who's buying Sprint, the next move is to see who buys Nextel and VoiceStream,'' he said. ''BellSouth showed its hand -- it wants to be a much bigger company. If they win Sprint, that leaves MCI WorldCom with no wireless network and they have to go after one of the other companies.''
He added that if WorldCom acquires Sprint, Bell South may still decide it wants to acquire a nationwide wireless network.
Nextel, which is partly owned by cellular pioneer Craig McCaw, had revenue of 1.85 billion last year. VoiceStream had revenue of $168 million last year. |
