More Affiliate Hurdles For Sprint-Nextel?

Sprint has already dropped $1.3 billion to buy out an affiliate that was making some noise about objecting to its merger with Nextel, and now other affiliates are smelling a payday. The affiliates say the merger will break the non-compete clauses that they have with the two carriers, with Nextel's sole affiliate and three of Sprint's having already filed suit. While none of this is likely to hold up or prevent the merger, the affiliates' angling for big settlements could tack even more debt on to the $27 billion that the joined company will emerge with. It's hard to imagine these are the kind of synergies the companies had in mind when they announced the deal.

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