Sprint Nextel seen as takeover target?

Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) has seen its shares rise as much as 16% as of Monday afternoon (after market close) as rumors and talks of a possible buyout began circulating in the media. This time, instead of Sprint rumors related to a Verizon (NYSE: VZ) buyout, South Korea's SK Telecom was seen as possible suitor for the third-largest wireless carrier in the U.S. behind AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon Wireless.

SK Telecom, South Korea's largest telecom operator, owns the MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) Helio, which rents airwaves from Sprint already. When asked, SK Telecom said that a possible takeover rumor regarding Sprint was "groundless". Generally, a descriptive word like that is defensive enough to make some think that no takeover is in the works. However, half the time cover is laid, the rumor turns out to be true. SK Telecom even used harsher language to state that the rumor was not true.

Perhaps SK Telecom needs to dredge up more than about $62 billion to wrest control of Sprint Nextel (based on closing price Monday afternoon) before it starts warming to the rumors. It would make the $18 billion SK Telecom buyout quite large since Sprint's valuation is more than three times its own. Would SK Telecom take such a large risk to own a national wireless carrier with one of the largest 3G wireless data networks in existence, along with 53 million customers? Never say never -- those kinds of figures would make some lick their chops if they believe the future is all-wireless. Perhaps a partial deal is more palatable for SK Telecom than an entire takeover?