RESTON, Va.—Sprint Nextel Corp. has been given the green light from federal regulators for its acquisition of Nextel Partners Inc., with the purchase expected to close June 26.
The authorization from the Federal Communications Commission completes all the regulatory approvals needed to complete the transaction.
Nextel Partners shareholders voted in October 2005 to exercise a put right that required Sprint Nextel to acquire the company, and the two companies agreed to a purchase price of $28.50 per share, or about $6.5 billion.
Another Sprint Nextel affiliate, UbiquiTel Inc., received an additional recommendation that its shareholders support the sale of the company to Sprint Nextel. Glass Lewis & Co., an independent proxy advisory firm, advised that shareholders vote in favor of the acquisition at their meeting on June 27. Institutional Shareholders Services already has indicated that it believes shareholders should support the $1.3 billion sale.
