Nextel Partners sues over upcoming merger
Nextel Partners, a publicly traded company that offers Nextel like service in small rural areas,
claims the upcoming merger with Sprint will break the join-venture agreement. Nextel Partners wants to be able to use the same brand identity as the new company (see
previous coverage) instead of the Nextel name.
bq. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nextel Partners cites the recent announcement by Sprint that the Nextel brand would be largely folded in to the Sprint brand. That would violate the joint venture agreement "if we cannot use the same brand identity that Nextel Communications will use after the merger, i.e. the Sprint Brand," Nextel Partners said in the filing.
Nextel owns a 32% stake in Nextel Partners, but is leaving the company out of negotiations with Sprint. Nextel Partners has the option to be bought by Sprint after the merger takes place.
