Sprint to buy Nextel for $36 billion

NEW YORK: Sprint Corp. agreed to buy wireless telephone company Nextel Communications Inc. in a cash-and-stock deal worth about $36.3 billion to gain more business customers and more wireless airwaves to transmit calls.

The deal, which was widely-expected, would combine the No. 3 and No. 5 U.S. wireless carriers and create a new wireless giant with about 39 million customers to rival industry leaders Cingular Wireless and Verizon Wireless.