Sprint raises $2.5 billion in stock sale

Sprint announced Wednesday that it has raised a total of $2.5 billion over the past month, and when combined with a $2.4 billion bond offering in January, the long-distance and wireless service provider said it has "substantially completed its incremental funding needs for 2001." Sprint added that the underwriter for the deal, Credit Suisse First Boston, exercised its over-allotment option, bringing the proceeds from its stock sale to $2.3 billion from the previously announced $2 billion. Sprint also raised funds through the sale of the 18.4 million shares it owns of Internet access provider Earthlink. The sale raised $228 million and constitutes about 40 percent of Sprint's total holdings in Earthlink. In addition, the company said that Deutsche Telekom sold all of its 57 million share stake in Sprint, which did not receive any proceeds from the transaction.