The CEO of Japanese telco Softbank, Masayoshi Son, has confirmed that he would consider buying T-Mobile US if the US$21.6bn acquisition of Sprint Nextel does not complete. Son said that he would still go for “Plan A” if possible but that he sees the…
The CEO of Japanese telco Softbank, Masayoshi Son, has confirmed that he would consider buying T-Mobile US if the US$21.6bn acquisition of Sprint Nextel does not complete.
Son said that he would still go for “Plan A” if possible but that he sees the German-owned operator as Softbank’s “Plan B”, Bloomberg quoted him saying.
His statement substantiates a report earlier in June which said that Softbank was looking to acquire Deutsche Telekom’s 74% stake in the operator. Sprint’s shares dropped 1.36% on the back of that news while T-Mobile’s jumped more than 3%.
T-Mobile US has a market capitalisation of US$16bn while Sprint is valued at US$22bn. DT completed its merger of T-Mobile and MetroPCS earlier this year. Under the terms of that deal it is not allowed to sell shares in the newly combined company for 18 months, unless it sold all its shares in one go.
Last week Softbank increased its offer for Sprint by US$1.5bn to give shareholders more cash. Meanwhile the target’s special committee dismissed a rival US$25.5bn proposal from Dish Network as it “was not likely to lead to a superior offer”. Dish has also been linked to an acquisition of T-Mobile.
Sprint shareholders are set to vote on Softbank’s latest offer on 25 June. The Japanese telco needs approvals from shareholders and the FCC to complete the deal after obtaining other necessary approvals.
