Sprint closes deal for 6,600 towers

Sprint Corp. said Thursday it had completed its deal with Global Signal Inc. to take over operation of Sprint’s cell tower network.

Global Signal, based in Sarasota, Fla., paid $1.2 billion in cash for the right to either lease or operate the roughly 6,600 towers for 32 years. At the end of that period, Global Signal can buy the towers for $2.3 billion.

Sprint said it had agreed to lease space on 6,400 of the towers for 10 years at an initial rate of $1,400 per month per tower.

The Overland Park-based telecommunications company made the deal as part of its plan to sell or lease its nonwireless assets.

Report

Economy grows beyond expectations

The nation’s economy grew at a 3.5 percent rate in the first quarter, a stronger performance than earlier estimates had suggested, the Commerce Department said.

The new gross domestic product figure represented an upgrade from the 3.1 percent annual growth rate first estimated for the January-to-March quarter. That pace, which had been the slowest in two years, had drawn concerns about the nation’s economic strength.

The latest report raised hopes that there is enough momentum to maintain economic expansion and job growth in the months ahead.

Retail

Chico’s profit rises

Chico’s FAS Inc., a specialty retailer of women’s clothing, said Thursday that its profit leapt 32 percent in its fiscal first quarter .

Chico’s earned $47.2 million, or 26 cents per share, up from $35.7 million, or 20 cents per share, a year ago. The 2004 results are adjusted for a 2-for-1 stock split in February.

Revenue grew 27 percent to $327.3 million from $256.8 million. Same-store sales at company-owned locations open at least a year rose 10.8 percent.

Chico’s is opening a store in downtown Lawrence.

Insurance

AIG, former execs face civil suit

New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer on Thursday filed a civil suit against American International Group Inc., accusing the nation’s largest insurance company and two former top executives of using “deception and fraud” to boost the company’s stock price.

The suit filed in state Supreme Court in New York City accused AIG’s former chief executive, Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, and chief financial officer, Howard I. Smith, of orchestrating an accounting scheme that made AIG’s financial picture appear brighter than it was, misleading both investors and state regulators.

“The irony of this case is that AIG was a well-run and profitable company that didn’t need to cheat,” Spitzer said. “And yet, the former top management routinely and persistently resorted to deception and fraud in an apparent effort to improve the company’s financial results.”