Nextel Partners has called for a shareholder vote to decide if the company will execute an option in its agreement with Sprint Nextel to force a buyout. Nextel Partners operates mobile phone service under the Nextel brand name in rural areas. It serves about 1.8 million customers and has a current market cap of $7.1 billion [NXTP].

Sprint Nextel currently owns 21% of Nextel Partners, but there is a put option that allows Nextel Partners to force Sprint Nextel to buy out the remaining shares. There is a disagreement as to how much the company is worth because Sprint Nextel feels the share price has risen out of anticipation and should not be the deciding factor in actual value.