Sprint buyer rumored to be German firm

Networx Enterprise contract holder Sprint Nextel Corp.’s stock soared by 11.14 percent — from $3.77 Friday to $4.30 by midmorning Monday — a result of rumors that will be taken over by Deutsche Telekom, a Reuters report said.

The rumors gained strength over the weekend with a report by Britain’s Sunday Telegraph that Deutsche Telekom has called in Deutsche Bank to advise on a bid for Sprint, which the Telegraph put at $10.6 billion.

“Any such rumors are speculation, and Sprint does not comment on speculation,” a Sprint representative said.

Should the deal actually occur, other U.S. wireless telecom companies, including General Services Administration Networx Universal and Enterprise contract holders AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless majority stockholder Verizon Communications Inc., would likely feel the effects.

Such a deal would cost billions of euros but would bump market leaders AT&T and Verizon, and give the No. 1 spot to Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA unit, Reuters said. A Sprint/T-Mobile union would have more than 82 million subscribers, about 30 percent of the U.S. market.

The takeover talk had a negative effect on Deutsche Telekom’s stock, sending the German company's shares down 1.78 percent on the U.K. market — from $9.54 Friday to $9.37 Monday.

Sprint Nextel ranks No. 27 on Washington Technology’s 2009 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors.