By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Atlanta Wednesday to protest "Stand Your Ground" laws, marking the one-year anniversary of the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
Sprint, the country's third-largest cellphone company, said Monday that it will buy out the portion of wireless network operator Clearwire that it doesn't already own after raising its offer price to $2.2 billion.
Sprint Nextel Corp. on Wednesday said it has agreed to buy U.S. Cellular Corp.'s service areas in the Midwest for $480 million to boost its network capacity in that region.
Flush with the promise of cash from a Japanese investor, Sprint Nextel Corp. on Thursday said that it wants to buy out the founder of Clearwire Corp. to gain majority control of the wireless network operator.
Sprint dug a hole for itself when it bought Nextel in 2005 in one of the worst deals in telecom history. Now, a deep-pocketed friend from overseas could help the company climb out of its hole and reinvigorate its fight against AT&T and Verizon Wireless.
Japan's Softbank has agreed to buy 70 percent of Sprint for $20.1 billion, giving the struggling U.S. cellphone company an infusion of cash and confidence.
Sprint Nextel Corp. on Thursday said Japanese cellphone company Softbank Corp. is in talks about making a potential substantial investment in the U.S. company.
That means that final approval "may come down to a vote-counting exercise," he said.
Analyst Christopher King at Stifel Nicolaus said it's likely other shareholders will oppose the deal, arguing that Clearwire is worth much more.
