Sprint Shareholders Approve SoftBank Acquisition

From DailyTech: DISH Network Corp. (DISH) founder and CEO Charlie Ergen hates losing. But it appears that he has lost in his acquisition bid for Sprint Nextel Corp. (S), with approximately 80 percent of shareholders (with 98 percent voting) approving of a rival bid from Japanese carrier Softbank Corp. (TYO:9984).

The SoftBank bid on the surface looked slightly less favorable, offering a bit less cash, less stock, and a lower final ownership stake.

But shareholders -- and Sprint's management -- took issue with the fine print that Mr. Ergen tends to load his bids with, and felt SoftBank's deep experience as a successful mobile operator made it a better fit (versus DISH who could offer service bundling opportunities). Further, Sprint shareholders and management voiced skepticism about DISH's ability to raise the amount of cash it promised for the bid.

Under the SoftBank deal, shareholders will get $16.64B USD in cash, or roughly $7.65 USD per share. The share pool will then swell, so that SoftBank owns 78 percent of Sprint and existing shares constitute 22 percent of the pool. The deal should wrap up by July, though it could be extended, if necessary.

The deal will next need to score regulatory approvals from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) (the latter of which gives a silent blessing by declining to sue to block major mergers).

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