Deutsche Telecom mulling bid for Sprint Nextel: reports

Shares of fell in Frankfurt after international newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that it was considering a bid to acquire US-based Sprint Nextel. WSJ said deliberations are at a preliminary stage and management may very well turn away. Any bid could still be weeks, or even months away, WSJ quoted people close to the development as saying. "The Sprint project is top priority," Germany's Der Spiegel said. The weekly news magazine also said that there is for the moment no formal offer for shares or a takeover attempt and no active negotiations. A combination with Sprint could make the German company's T-Mobile unit the biggest wireless company in the US. Sprint Nextel is the third-biggest provider of cell phone services in the US and has a market capitalisation of about US$22bn (€14.2bn). AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless are the top two providers there. T-Mobile is No. 4 in the US market. Separately, Sprint Nextel unveiled an alliance with Clearwire, an internet-service provider, to create a network based on WiMax. Other companies, including Google, Intel and Time Warner, are investing in the venture. The deal may allow Sprint Nextel to steal a march on AT&T and Verizon, as they are backing a different wireless technology that will not be ready for two years.