Sprint ends litigation by acquiring iPCS

Virgin Mobile settled their outstanding lawsuits, clearing the way for the acquisition they announced in July. There was just one more obstacle in the way, iPCS. A Sprint reseller, iPCS has exclusive rights to sell Sprint services in certain Midwest markets. Virgin sells services in those markets, so once Sprint finished the acquisition they’d be competing with iPCS. This prompted a lawsuit. Many speculated that a takeover of iPCS would be the best move, and that’s exactly what will happen. The acquisition, valued at around $831 million, will not only clear the Virgin Mobile suit, but will also save Sprint from divesting some of its iDEN network. iPCS previously filed, and won, a lawsuit against Sprint following its acquisition of Nextel. A ruling forced Sprint to divest its iDEN network in iPCS networks, but that is no longer necessary. The move appears to be a formality. When Spint acquired Virgin Mobile, it had to have known that iPCS would be ready with a lawsuit. The only solution at that point, it would appear, would be for Sprint to acquire iPCS. It stands to reason, then, that Sprint had planned this acquisition along with the Virgin Mobile deal. All pending litigation has been put on hold, and will come to an official end when the deal closes, which is projected to be in the fourth quarter this year or first quarter next year, around the same time the Virgin Mobile deal is expected to close. ]]>