Nextel International Adds Shares to Planned IPO

Nextel International, a unit of

Nextel Communications

(NXTL)

, has increased the number of class A shares it intends to sell in an initial public offering to 60 million from 45.5 million, according to a filing with the

Securities and Exchange Commission

.

Nextel International also plans to drop the shares' price range to $10 to $12 from a previous range of $16 to $18.

A date for its debut has not been set, but the company has applied for a

Nasdaq

listing under the symbol NXTI. Nextel hired

Goldman Sachs

and

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter

as the primary managers of the IPO.

The Reston, Va., digital mobile phone company, which has wireless holdings in Canada, Latin America and the Asia/Pacific region, recently

suffered downgrades from analysts reacting to the company's

gloomy outlook for the first half of 2001.

Nextel shares, which have been sharply off their 52-week high of $82.94, recently gained 56 cents, or 2.51%, to $22.94 in late-morning trading on the

Nasdaq

.