Softbank to Buy 70 Percent Stake in Sprint: Sources

CNBC ^ | October 15, 2012 | David Faber

[La Lydia]

Softbank and Sprint have reached a deal under which Softbank will pay $20 billion for a 70 percent stake in the wireless telecom operator, according to people close to the situation. Japan-listed shares of Softbank slid 6.3 percent on Monday and were the most heavily traded share by turnover on the main board. The deal is expected to be announced at 0800 GMT Monday, Reuters reported.

The transaction calls for Softbank to buy $8 billion worth of shares directly from Sprint [S 5.69 -0.04 (-0.7%) ]at a price of $5.25 each and tender for another $12 billion worth of the shares from existing holders at a price of $7.30 a share, a large premium to Sprint's current price. Given the deal's structure, it will not require a shareholder vote....

[La Lydia]

Meanwhile, more than 50 percent of Sprint’s net new subscriber additions at any given time utilize a government subsidy program called “Lifeline,” which provides welfare beneficiaries with free cell-phone service. Sprint provides the service under its “Assurance Wireless” brand. The carrier is reportedly nearing a total of 2 million Assurance Wireless subscribers according to The Wall Street Journal. So what I want to know is how much of our Universal Service Tax (thanks Algore) that we all pay on all of our phone service is now going to Japan?

[TwelveOfTwenty]

Another US company is now majority foreign owned, like Chrysler? How is this good?

[La Lydia]

Who said this was good?

[TwelveOfTwenty]

That was my point. This isn’t just bad, it’s ridiculous. We used to lead the world in manufacturing. Now it’s not just our manufacturing that is going overseas, but also our businesses.

[The_Reader_David]

Alas, Softbank’s wonderfully bizarre series of commercials with the household in which the father has been unaccountably turned into a dog won’t translate for the American market.

[Clinging Bitterly]

To me it as seems like Sprint has been in trouble for about the past year. Coverage in our town got real bad about a year ago and there has been one excuse after another for not getting it fixed, 3G was like dialup or slower. Hobbs is somewhat remote but we are a city of over 40,000 and booming right now, they cut service here when AT&T took over this region's part of Alltel (Obama’s FCC thought Verizon would be too big if they let them into SE NM I guess). The Alltel infrastructure remained and is a property of Verizon. Since Verizon couldn't market here under their brand they leased the capacity to some of the local carriers which until then had been aligned with Sprint. I had been on Nextel and then Sprint for a long time but dropped them a couple months ago. Went with one of the local carriers which is selling nationwide unlimited everything including tethering for $64 - I have used it all over the country and it works better than Sprint ever did down here.

[La Lydia]

Chinese workers on SNL make the same point (sorry about the commercial, it is brief).
http://www.hulu.com/watch/412897