Sprint rejects $5 billion buyout offer

The Sprint buyout rumors have been floating around for a while now, so it's not surprising to hear that eager suitors are lining up at the carrier's door. What is surprising, however, is the fact that the ailing wireless carrier apparently rejected a deal of $5 billion from Providence Equity Partners and Korean carrier SK Telecom. It's a bit more complicated than that, however: it seems that the deal would have required Sprint's management team to step down and have some humble pie while SK stepped in to run the show. Nonetheless, it would have infused Sprint with $5 billion in capital and some new leadership, while also allowing the company to "significantly cut costs by jointly purchasing handsets" with its new big brother (à la SK Telecom's partnership with Helio). Sprint had better hope, for their sake, that a sweeter deal comes along soon--SK's offer might not be so generous the next time around.

For more on the proposed deal:
- see this New York Times article