Rumors were made official today as Sprint (FON) and Nextel (NXTL) announced plans for a $35 billion merger, creating a much more formidable number three player in the wireless market. With Verizon and Cingular far larger than #3 Sprint, adding Nextel's business clients and push-to-talk technology puts the combination right on the heels of the industry's top two giants.

Nextel had to do this deal in order to avoid spending billions to upgrade its wireless network to the latest technology. Sprint's wireless clientele is more focused on the consumer side, so this combination will allow for Sprint-Nextel to offer push-to-talk as well as wireless Internet services to both companies' customers. The merger should net about $12 billion in synergies, according to today's announcement.

The proposed deal calls for Nextel shareholders (Peridot Capital is one) to receive about 1.3 shares of Sprint for each share of Nextel they hold. A small cash portion (about 50 cents per share) is also part of the transaction. As I write this, FON shares are trading at $24.55 and NXTL stands at $29.66. Nextel trades at about a 7.6 percent discount, based on the deal's terms, presenting arbitrageurs with an attractive spread.

The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2005 and some are speculating that Verizon or another player may make a rival bid for Sprint, although this seems far from assured (I'd say less than a 50/50 chance). One last thing to keep in mind about the 7.6 percent spread on the deal; Sprint currently pays a 2% annual dividend, so those shorting the acquirer's stock will be responsible for that payout.