Sprint shareholders OK $21.6 billion SoftBank deal

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
SoftBank received a big boost in its effort to buy Sprint on Tuesday, as the company's shareholders approved a $21.6 billion offer from the Japanese carrier.

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The go-ahead from Sprint's shareholders means that the only remaining hurdle to SoftBank's Sprint acquisition is approval by the Federal Communications Commission. Sprint still aims to close the deal by early July, according to Reuters.

SoftBank's initial victory came after its main competitor dropped out. In April, Dish Network launched a bid to acquire Sprint, offering $25.5 billion for the United States' third-largest carrier, above SoftBank's bid of $20 billion. Some shareholders never warmed to Dish's proposal, though ? as it was largely contingent on the satellite television provider taking on a considerable amount of debt ? and Dish soon dropped out of the running.

To sweeten the deal, SoftBank raised its bid to $21.6 billion, with the cash component of the deal for shareholders rising to $4.5 billion. That deal will leave SoftBank with 78 percent ownership of Sprint.

Buying Sprint would give SoftBank a foothold in the American wireless market, which it believes is riper for increased development than SoftBank's home country of Japan. Japan's wireless market is thought to have largely matured. In the United States, though, SoftBank can use Sprint's existing wireless spectrum ? as well as any spectrum it might secure in federal bids or from Sprint's efforts to buy out the other holders of Clearwire ? to possibly improve the company's standing in the market.

In courting Sprint's shareholders, SoftBank's CEO touted his company's expertise in 4G technologies as a means for the company to improve its service offerings. SoftBank's use of a single-frequency network technology reduces interference and could lead to improved reception for Sprint customers.

In the first quarter of this year, Sprint sold 1.5 million iPhones, but lost 560,000 customers to competitors. At the end of the quarter, the carrier had 31.3 million customers on contract paying an average of $61.47 per month.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    gwmacgwmac Posts: 1,807member
    That is good news. Dish would have been a terrible partner and would have been drowning in debt. Softbank are used to competing against 2 larger rivals in Japan and winning over more subscribers. This will help them finish network vision and the the completion of all base stations to multi-mode a lot faster with a cash infusion. Sprint couldn't have found a better partner than Softbank. I certainly hope they don't try and change the name though because Softbank sounds like a bank or something to do with software and not a great name for a cell phone company.
  • Reply 2 of 14
    damn_its_hotdamn_its_hot Posts: 1,209member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by gwmac View Post



    1. That is good news. Dish would have been a terrible partner...


    2. ...I certainly hope they don't try and change the name though because Softbank sounds like a bank or something to do with software and not a great name for a cell phone company.


     


    1. I love Dish for their satellite content delivery. The software they produce and ship S*CKS and is buggy as hell. It look like a cross between Win 3.1 and Win 8 (the worst parts of both). Can you tell I am not a MS fan.


     


    2. If they change the name it most certainly should not be a derivative of Softbank which sounds like an elitist club for the severely testosterone deprived.


     


    /s BTW: I am not homophobic.

  • Reply 3 of 14
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member


    And what's the deal with Clearwire?

  • Reply 4 of 14
    I believe Sprint owns 50% of clearwire.
    A stronger Sprint could try to acquire the rest of Clearwire.
  • Reply 5 of 14
    gwmacgwmac Posts: 1,807member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    And what's the deal with Clearwire?



    Sprint already owns 51% of clearwire and should complete the purchase of the remaining shares in a few weeks. 

  • Reply 6 of 14
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member


    The synergies are tough to see here. I am guessing wasted $$$, not dissimilar to the trophy acquisitions of the 1980s (Columbia Pictures, Pebble Beach golf course, Rockefeller Center.....).

  • Reply 7 of 14
    gwmacgwmac Posts: 1,807member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    The synergies are tough to see here. I am guessing wasted $$$, not dissimilar to the trophy acquisitions of the 1980s (Columbia Pictures, Pebble Beach golf course, Rockefeller Center.....).



    Don't see the synergy??  Softbank is a very successful cellphone carrier in Japan. They are the third largest but are growing faster than their two larger rivals by a wide margin.  They were also the first carrier in Japan to offer the iPhone. Masayoshi Son was a close friend of Steve Jobs in fact which is how they managed to secure the iPhone first. Japan is not a growth market since the population is aging and actually shrinking so they wanted to expand to a country with growth potential. There is huge synergy here since both companies together can get much better deals on phones and network equipment. 


     


    Once they finish buying the remaining Clearwire shares they will have a massive amount of spectrum and Son has already said they will continue to offer unlimited data. 


     


    http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9240340/With_SoftBank_deal_in_hand_and_Clearwire_buyout_near_Sprint_set_to_become_spectrum_powerhouse_

  • Reply 8 of 14
    alexisalexis Posts: 82member
    This irritates me. A Japanese company is allowed to aquire Sprint, but AT&T was blocked from purchasing T-Mobile because it was anticompetitive? I was super excited for AT&T and T-Mobile to merge! That would have been a huge boom for customers!
  • Reply 9 of 14

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by gwmac View Post


    Don't see the synergy??  Softbank is a very successful cellphone carrier in Japan. They are the third largest but are growing faster than their two larger rivals by a wide margin.  They were also the first carrier in Japan to offer the iPhone. Masayoshi Son was a close friend of Steve Jobs in fact which is how they managed to secure the iPhone first. Japan is not a growth market since the population is aging and actually shrinking so they wanted to expand to a country with growth potential. There is huge synergy here since both companies together can get much better deals on phones and network equipment. 


     


    Once they finish buying the remaining Clearwire shares they will have a massive amount of spectrum and Son has already said they will continue to offer unlimited data. 


     


    http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9240340/With_SoftBank_deal_in_hand_and_Clearwire_buyout_near_Sprint_set_to_become_spectrum_powerhouse_



    Ah, capex, cost, and spectrum synergies.


     


    Now, where have I heard that before......

  • Reply 10 of 14
    gwmacgwmac Posts: 1,807member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    Ah, capex, cost, and spectrum synergies.


     


    Now, where have I heard that before......



    You said it was tough to see any synergy and I simply pointed out that there is a lot of synergy given the spectrum and lower cost for phones and network equipment. The onus is on you to show why you think there is little to no synergy. 

  • Reply 11 of 14
    mdriftmeyermdriftmeyer Posts: 7,503member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    And what's the deal with Clearwire?



     


    This whole deal wreaks of FCC needing to do its job.


     


    Clearwire is being targeted by SoftBank which is using Sprint-Nextel as a middle-man to buy Clearwire whose shareholds won't agree to a direct SoftBank buyout.


     


    SoftBank wants both Clearwire and Sprint-Nextel.


     


    DISH came and wisely jacked up the cost which is now stressing out both Sprint-Nextel and SoftBank by several billion more.


     


    In the end, like McCaw Cellular was to ATT Wireless Clearwire is to Sprint-Nextel: An overhyped, over-priced company with license to spectrum that is hard to come by.


     


    SoftBank is said to receive 70% of Sprint-Nextel but that doesn't mean it includes Clearwire as part of those assets.


     


    I get the impression with Sprint buying Clearwire it wants to dump it's pre-existing spectrum, debt and more on SoftBank while it reinvents itself under a new brand that is neither Clearwire nor Sprint Nextel, while using the Clearwire Spectrum.


     


    We'll see.

  • Reply 12 of 14
    andysolandysol Posts: 2,506member
    This is bad news for dish network. Wireless data is the future- not satellite television. Sure, they would be drowning in debt (especially after their "brilliant" blockbuster purchase). But id rather fail trying something that could save you rather than hang on another several years and eventually fail regardless of what you do. The board has an obligation to the shareholders- but in a case like this- the shareholders might just be looking short term and not long term.
    I don't know all the dish specifics, this might have been a terrible deal- but they need to do something in the next few years before its too late.

    On a side note, I like the fact there will be a good competitor that will grow the market, offer competition, and potentially drive prices down for everyone. But as an American- all that growth comes at the expense of AT&T and Verizon- both American companies. And we are also losing an American company in the purchase of Sprint. That sucks all the way around as an American.
  • Reply 13 of 14
    macotormacotor Posts: 16member
    Alexis, how is this in any way comparable to AT&A absorbing, then eliminating T-Mobile as a brand? DECREASED competition would have resulted, as T-Mo would have ceased to exist, and customers would have been moved to ATT "value" plans.

    T-Mobile would have ceased to exist. Could it be that you just don't want "foreigners" owning what you think are "American" companies?
  • Reply 14 of 14
    alexisalexis Posts: 82member
    macotor wrote: »
    Alexis,

    ...

    T-Mobile would have ceased to exist. Could it be that you just don't want "foreigners" owning what you think are "American" companies?

    I'm perfectly fine with a "foreign" companies owning a US-based company. That's the market. Besides, T-Mobile is a German company. I was all for the AT&T acquisition as it set me up, as an AT&T customer, for a large boost in service.

    If the opposite had been attempted (T-Mobile acquire AT&T) and had been shot down and this was about SoftBank acquiring AT&T now, I'd have said the same thing.
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