Nextel Communications Inc gets a vote of confidence from Standard & Poor’s Corp following the proposal by MCI Communications Corp to invest $1,300m for a 17% stake – but these things are negative, and the paper still has a rating that puts it deep into the junkier junk bond category: Standard & Poor’s raised Nextel’s senior unsecured debt to triple-C-plus from triple-C-minus because of the increased financial flexibility derived from the MCI deal.The implied senior rating is single-B; about $900m of rated debt is affected. The outlook is stable.
