WAKE FOREST,US Unwired, a Sprint PCS affiliate who had objected to Sprint’s merger with Nextel, is selling out.
Sprint said Monday it would purchase US Unwired for some $1.3 billion. As part of the deal, US Unwired agreed to drop its opposition to the merger.
US Unwired, which is based in Louisiana, has some 500,000 customers in nine states.
Sprint will pay $6.25 a share for US Unwired stock. The stock opened Monday at $6.16 and was up 4 cents in midday trading. It is at a 52-week high, three times its low point of $1.83 during the past year.
Sprint will assume some $266 million is US Unwired debt.
“As part of the agreement, Sprint and US Unwired will seek an immediate stay of litigation pending in U.S. District Court in Lake Charles, La., including US Unwired’s request for an injunction to block the merger of Sprint and Nextel Communications, with a final resolution to become effective upon the closing of the acquisition,” the companies said in a statement.
Sprint: www.sprint.com
