Softbank’s Son Seeks to Skirt Cross-Border Failure History
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Softbank Corp. President Masayoshi Son is betting $20 billion he can add value by buying control of Sprint Nextel Corp. in the biggest Japanese purchase of a foreign company. There’s 26 trillion yen ($330 billion) that says he can’t.
That’s the net amount of market value lost within 12 months after deal announcements in the 10 biggest overseas purchases by Japanese companies from 2000 to a year ago. Eight of the companies saw market value erode while two posted gains.