In a statement, Softbank Corp's President said he would be traveling to the United States to meet with Sprint Nextel's major shareholders. This is a bid to gain support for the takeover bid of the Japanese financial giant.
Masayoshi Son, Softbank's billionaire founder and president, had earlier proposed a US$20 billion deal for 70% of the US wireless company. This bid was challenged by Dish Network, an American satellite TV provider through an unsolicited bid worth US$25.5 billion.
A couple of Sprint shareholders, namely Paulson and Co and Omega Advisors have said that Dish's offer seems better than what Softbank provides.
To this Son argues that the Dish offer would have more cash upfront for shareholders, the consequence is that Sprint would be required to take on a heavier debt load. The billionaire banker also promised that the deal would be completed by July 1 and warned that the regulatory approval for the Dish bid would only come after 2014.
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