Sprint Bonds Fall to Lowest Since May 2009 on IPhone Speculation

Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Bonds from Sprint Nextel Corp. plunged to the lowest level in more than two years on speculation that an agreement to sell Apple Inc.’s iPhone will curtail profits.

The third-largest U.S. wireless operator’s $2 billion of 8.75 percent senior unsecured notes due in March 2032 fell 3.5 cents to 79 cents on the dollar as of 12:31 p.m. in New York, according to Trace, the bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. That’s the lowest since the bonds traded at the same level in May 2009.

To win the right to sell the iPhone, Sprint had to commit to buy at least 30.5 million of the devices from Apple over four years, which would cost $20 billion at current rates, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.

Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc., the two biggest wireless carriers, are both able to sell the iPhone. Sprint is based in Overland Park, Kansas.

--Editors: Alan Goldstein, Pierre Paulden

To contact the reporter on this story: Tim Catts in New York at tcatts1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alan Goldstein at agoldstein5@bloomberg.net