Alltel Is Calling Potential Buyers

ALLTEL IS CALLING POTENTIAL BUYERS
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Dennis K. Berman dennis.berman@wsj.com, Dionne Searcey and Amol Sharma]
Alltel has stepped up efforts to sell itself to carriers such as AT&T, Verizon and Sprint Nextel, as the wireless company tries to chart a new future. In recent weeks, Alltel has made overtures to AT&T, and the San Antonio-based telecom giant has been willing to entertain the possibility. AT&T remains skeptical about a combination because of potential antitrust problems, technology-integration issues and Alltel's stock-market capitalization, which Friday stood at nearly $22 billion. Verizon and several private-equity firms also have considered buying the nation's fifth-largest wireless operator by subscribers. Overall buyer interest is said to have been lukewarm, but the efforts are in their earliest stages. Potential buyers could be put off as rumors potentially push Alltel's stock too high, people familiar with the matter said. It's also a difficult time to conduct a sale. Sprint, for instance, has had discussions but the talks aren't expected to advance very far because of Sprint's troubles integrating its own merger from 2005.
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