Japanese banks are getting ready to provide more debt financing to Softbank if it decides to up its offer for Sprint, according to the Wall Street Journal citing lenders.
Sources at several local lenders reportedly expressed their willingness to…
Japanese banks are getting ready to provide more debt financing to Softbank if it decides to up its offer for Sprint, according to the Wall Street Journal citing lenders.
Sources at several local lenders reportedly expressed their willingness to provide new loans if necessary, with one of them saying it could arrange an additional Y200bn (US$2bn) loan.
Softbank’s US$20.1bn bid to buy 70% of US giant Sprint Nextel was recently challenged by DTH operator Dish Network’s US$25.5bn counter offer. It is not yet known whether Softbank will choose to raise its offer, stick to it or walk away from the deal.
However, the Japanese company said in a statement, in mid-April, that it is confident its bid offers “Sprint shareholders superior short and long term benefits to Dish’s highly conditional preliminary proposal”.
Analysts quoted by the Wall Street Journal said Softbank, which is looking to expand in the US away from Japan’s saturated market, may raise its offer because of the availability of cheap financing.
On 19 April, Softbank raised US$3.3bn in 2020 senior notes, up from the US$2bn initially planned, following strong investor demand. The company said proceeds of the transaction are expected to be used to part-finance the acquisition of Sprint, refinance existing debt and for general corporate purposes.
