Deals
SoftBank Raises Sprint Bid as Billionaire Son Counters Ergen
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SoftBank Corp., the Japanese mobile carrier controlled by Masayoshi Son, raised its offer for Sprint Nextel Corp. by 7.5 percent to $21.6 billion to counter a bid from billionaire Charlie Ergen’s Dish Network Corp.
SoftBank will pay $16.6 billion to Sprint shareholders and inject $5 billion of new capital into the target for a 78 percent stake, the Tokyo-based carrier said in a statement today. Dish has until June 18 to make its “best and final” offer as its current $25.5 billion proposal isn’t “actionable,” Sprint said separately.