July 26 (Bloomberg) -- SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest mobile-phone operator, said it rejected a proposal for the company to participate in a bid to acquire Sprint Nextel Corp.

``We get many offers through many different channels and Sprint was one of them,'' SK Telecom Chief Financial Officer Ha Sung Min said in an earnings conference call with investors today in Seoul. ``We haven't pursued the acquisition of Sprint.''

The comments follow an Edaily report that revived speculation SK Telecom, whose market value is less than one-third of Sprint's $63.5 billion, may join a bid to buy the third- largest U.S. telephone carrier. A similar Korea Economic Daily report two weeks ago triggered gains in shares of SK Telecom in Seoul and Sprint in after-hours trading in New York.

Edaily reported today that SK Telecom is in talks to buy Sprint after being approached by financial investors, citing Cho Jung Nam, vice chairman at the Seoul-based operator.

Kim Hye Jin, a spokeswoman at SK Telecom, denied the company plans to bid for Sprint. She declined to name the overseas investors that approached the Korean carrier or specify when the proposal was made. James Fisher, a spokesman for Sprint in Reston, Virginia, declined to confirm or deny the Edaily report.

Entrusting Management

On July 10, the Korea Economic Daily reported SK Telecom may participate in a bid to acquire Sprint, under a proposal where the bidding group would entrust management of Sprint to SK Telecom. SK Telecom would need a 1 percent stake in Sprint to gain management control, according to the report. SK Telecom denied the report that day.

The Korea Economic Daily article drove SK Telecom shares up as much as 5 percent that day in Seoul. Sprint's shares gained as much as 16 percent in after-hours trading in New York.

SK Telecom has a venture in the U.S. with Earthlink Inc. called Helio LLC, which offers wireless services using Sprint's phone network.

Shares of SK Telecom, which today reported second-quarter profit climbed 8 percent, rose 0.7 percent to close at 217,000 won in Seoul.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kevin Cho in Seoul at kcho2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 26, 2007 06:53 EDT