Imagine walking down the street, when suddenly, you see an old friend.  Don't get me wrong, it's nice to see people you know, but after 20 minutes of mind numbing conversation about how their life is going, it gets a bit old.  So you look at them, and say "hey, I'll give you $50 if you shut up and keep walking."  I'm sure most would accept the money and keep walking.

It appears to work on a significantly larger scale as well, since Sprint did just that with competitor iPCS.  If you remember back to their 2004 purchase of Nextel, iPCS was quite vocal about their opposition to the deal, due to an agreement that gave them rights to the Sprint brand name in the markets that they controlled.  Terse words were exchanged, and lawsuits were thrown around.  When Sprint announced their 51 percent stake in Clearwire, iPCS sued over rights to the Sprint name.

So, instead of long, drawn out court battles, Sprint simply purchased iPCS for $426 million and assumed $405 million in debt.  The deal specifies that both parties end all litigation, and allows the nation's third largest wireless carrier to keep their brand consistent nationwide.  It's a bit more than $20 or $50 that you would throw at your friend, but it goes to show that the concept works just as well on a corporate scale.

Source: IntoMobile