TEXT-S&P puts Sprint Nextel 'B+' rating on watch positive

-- Sprint Nextel has announced it is in talks with Japan's Softbank
Corp. (BBB/Stable/--), which is seeking to buy all or part of Sprint
Nextel.
-- We are placing our ratings on Sprint Nextel, including our 'B+'
corporate credit rating, on CreditWatch with positive implications.
-- An important factor in our analysis would be the degree of support we
would attribute to the higher-rated Softbank.

NEW YORK (Standard & Poor's) Oct. 11, 2012--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services
today placed its 'B+' corporate credit rating, and all other ratings, on
Overland Park, Kan.-based wireless service provider Sprint Nextel Corp. on
CreditWatch with positive implications. The CreditWatch placement follows
Sprint Nextel's announcement that it is in talks with Japan's Softbank Corp.
(BBB/Stable/--), which is seeking to buy all or part of Sprint Nextel.

The CreditWatch placement reflects the possibility that we could raise our
ratings on Sprint Nextel if Softbank is successful in its negotiations to
acquire a large stake in the company.

"An important factor in our analysis would be the degree of support we would
attribute to the higher-rated Softbank," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst
Allyn Arden. "While we would not expect to equalize the ratings on Sprint
Nextel with those on Softbank in the absence of debt guarantees, it is
possible that we might impute some degree of support in the ratings, which
could also lead to a higher rating on Sprint Nextel than it would have on a
stand-alone basis."

While there is no information on how such a transaction would be financed,
Standard & Poor's believes that an acquisition could also lead to improvement
in Sprint Nextel's financial risk profile, which we currently view as "highly
leveraged."

Preliminarily, we do not believe a potential acquisition would offer
meaningful synergies since the two companies operate in different geographic
markets, nor do we expect any direct benefits to the current business risk
assessment, which we currently view as "fair." Nevertheless, Sprint Nextel
would likely benefit from having a parent company with greater financial
resources to help fund its network upgrade and accelerate its rollout of
fourth-generation (4G) services under the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard.

As part of our CreditWatch review we will monitor developments related to the
discussions between the two companies. We could raise or affirm the ratings on
Sprint Nextel if an acquisition or large investment by Softbank is ultimately
consummated. We would expect to provide more clarity on the ultimate ratings
outcome if an agreement is announced and the two companies provide more
information on financing and strategic direction.

RELATED CRITERIA AND RESEARCH
-- Business Risk/Financial Risk Matrix Expanded, Sept. 18, 2012
-- Methodology And Assumptions: Liquidity Descriptors For Global
Corporate Issuers, Sept. 28, 2011
-- Use of CreditWatch And Outlooks, Sept. 14, 2009

Complete ratings information is available to subscribers of RatingsDirect on
the Global Credit Portal at www.globalcreditportal.com. All ratings affected
by this rating action can be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site at
www.standardandpoors.com. Use the Ratings search box located in the left
column.