Success Story: Northern PCS Services v. Sprint Nextel Corporation

Northern PCS Services v. Sprint Nextel Corporation

Gray Plant Mooty recently represented Northern PCS Services in a major lawsuit against telecom giant Sprint Corporation. Based in Waite Park, MN, Northern was a regional Sprint wireless affiliate that was relying on a pledge by Sprint (negotiated by GPM attorney Phil Kunkel) that Northern would be the exclusive Sprint wireless provider in Northern’s assigned territory.

Northern invested nearly $100M building and operating the Sprint network, but its exclusivity was challenged in 2005 when Sprint merged with Nextel—a direct competitor of Northern in Northern’s assigned territory. Northern sued Sprint and Nextel in federal district court in Minnesota for breaches of exclusivity and related claims. In June 2007, after a summary judgment ruling in Minnesota Federal Court that was favorable to Northern, Sprint Nextel Corporation announced an agreement to acquire Northern for over $312.5M, including the assumption of debt.

Northern’s former President, William Casto, comments on his work with GPM, “[I]t was an educational process led by a team of very professional and talented individuals. A huge thank you to [the GPM] team for providing the motivation at Sprint to reach this day and settlement.”

GPM’s team on the case was led by John Krenn, Craig Brandt and Dean Eyler, with assistance from Nick Nierengarten, Greg Merz and Kelly Hoversten.