Sprint Affiliates Merging
A pair of pink-sheets-traded
Sprint
(FON)
affiliates set plans Thursday to link up, continuing the wireless telecom industry's consolidation trend.
iPCS
(IPCX)
and
Horizon PCS
(HZPS)
said they would combine in a merger creating a company with an aggregate market capitalization of $500 million.
iPCS holds the exclusive right to sell Sprint-branded products and services in 40 markets in Illinois, Michigan, Iowa and eastern Nebraska. Horizon holds Sprint-branded rights in 11 contiguous states between Sprint's Chicago, New York and Knoxville markets. Together the companies will serve markets populated by some 15 million people.
The deal comes a month after two larger Sprint affiliates,
Alamosa
(APCS)
and AirGate, merged in a $350 million cash-and-stock deal. Meanwhile Sprint is due to merge with
Nextel
(NXTL)
in a transaction expected to close later this year.