Dish puts $25B on table towards snagging Sprint from Japan’s Softbank

By Christian Zibreg on Apr 15, 2013

Dish Network has launched a $25.5 billion cash and stock bid to snag carrier Sprint from Japan’s communications giant Softbank, according to reports Monday morning. Should Sprint accept the offer and regulators approve the deal, consumers will get a new service that could combine mobile, broadband and television.

Dish is the nation’s second-largest direct-broadcast satellite service provider which serves just over fourteen million Americans. Sprint Nextel with its 47.5 million subscribers files as the third-largest wireless carrier in the United States. The proposed merger comes at an interesting time, just as Softbank’s proposed acquisition of 70 percent of Sprint for $20.1 billion is nearing its completion in the second quarter of 2013… Read More

 

AT&T voices concern over Sprint’s Clearwire deal

By Cody Lee on Oct 18, 2012

About this time last year, AT&T’s plans to buyout T-Mobile were crumbling. Thanks to strong opposition from its competitors — namely Sprint, and the US government, the carrier was forced to withdraw its merger application from the FCC.

With that in mind, it’s no surprise that AT&T is being vocal about the recently announced Softbank-Sprint-Clearwire deal. The carrier says it’s worrisome that a foreign carrier will have control over such a large chunk of US airwaves… Read More

 

Japanese carrier Softbank buys 70% stake in Sprint for $20 billion

By Cody Lee on Oct 14, 2012

There were reports last week that Softbank was interested in making a major investment in Sprint. Well those rumors materialized today, as the Japanese carrier is said to have purchased a 70% stake in the company.

The deal isn’t exactly official yet, but the two parties are expected to make an announcement tomorrow morning. The purchase will give Softbank the controlling interest in the third largest carrier in the US…

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Japan’s Softbank wants to buy Sprint

By Christian Zibreg on Oct 11, 2012

This just in. According to a new report out this morning, Softbank, Japan’s third-largest wireless operator, is in talks to buy a controlling stake in Overland, Kansas-based Sprint, the nation’s third-largest carrier. The transaction is said to be worth an estimated 1.5 trillion yen, or $19 billion, and would file as the largest purchase of a foreign company by a Japanese firm.

SoftBank used to be the only official iPhone carrier in Japan until the release of iPhone 4S last November. According to people familiar with the situation, Softbank is aiming to buy all of the outstanding shares in Sprint, which had more than 56 million users at the end of June… Read More