Softbank's list of achievements in order to acquire Sprint Nextel just got shorter when it was allowed by the Securities and Exchange Commission to send out proxy materials to its shareholders regarding the upcoming vote for the said buyout transaction. The vote would be held on June 12 during a special shareholder's meeting.
This is just a small step for Softbank for its bid to acquire Sprint Nextel, especially after Dish Network offered US$25.5 billion for the same volume of shares that Softbank was offering for US$20.1 billion.
Softbank's tact is to say that there is more puff to the Dish Network offer than what it actually makes. The first salvo was made by Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son in a press conference. He said that they were questioning the validity of Dish's claimn that the offer would be worth US$7 per share. In the Tokyo press conference, Son said, "I would say the number is wrong. Totally wrong. It is incomplete and illusory."
Other counter arguments that Son dished out include Dish did not have the commited financing to complete the deal and the leverage required by Dish would be thwice of Softbank's.
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