SoftBank on verge of closing deal to buyout Sprint
It looked like SoftBank had a clear path to acquiring Sprint before DISH jumped in, but CEO Masayoshi Son is still confident that a deal will get done between his company and the US wireless provider. DISH had put in its own bid to absorb Sprint and its subsidiary Clearwire Corp but failed to submit a revised offer earlier this week, leaving the door open for Son’s SoftCorp to move forward with their own acquisition plans.
SoftBank offered a counter-offer to DISH’s, raising their initial bid to $21.6 billion and including a higher cash incentive to win over support from Sprint shareholders, who will meet on June 25th to discuss the proposals. Sprint recently made a move to further secure ownership of Clearwire, raising their own buyout offer. Interestingly, their prime competition here is Dish.
If everything shakes out in SoftBank’s favor, the deal could be sealed as soon as early July.
[via Reuters]