Nielsen Holdings NV will replace Sprint Nextel Corp. in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index after the end of trading on July 8, S&P said in a statement Monday.

Shareholders of Overland Park, Kansas-based Sprint last week approved a $21.6 billion deal with Tokyo-based SoftBank Corp., agreeing to give the Japanese company control of the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier after an eighth-month saga. The transaction will mean that Sprint shares available for trading will fall below the 50 percent mark set by S&P as a criteria for membership of the U.S. equity benchmark index, the release said.

New York-based Nielsen Holdings is the biggest provider of U.S. television ratings.