Sprint Cheaper Than 99% of S&P 500 Signaling Merger: Real M&A

Sprint Nextel Corp.’s shares are so battered after AT&T Inc.’s $39 billion offer for T-Mobile USA that investors are valuing the third-largest U.S. mobile phone carrier at a discount to its net assets.

Sprint’s 11 percent slide to $4.49 since the T-Mobile USA deal was announced March 20 through yesterday left its stock trading below the company’s $4.87 a share in assets minus liabilities. That means investors can buy Sprint for 92 cents on the dollar, cheaper than 99 percent of companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index excluding financials, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Sprint’s licenses from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, which give it the right to operate its network in specific regions, alone are worth $19.9 billion, 44 percent more than its market capitalization of $13.8 billion.