There's a bit of late night deal news this evening, as Sprint has announced that it and SoftBank have reworked their agreement a bit. Under the new terms, SoftBank will give Sprint's stockholders an extra $4.5 billion in cash at closing, bringing that total up to $16.64 billion In order to get that extra $4.5 billion to the shareholders, $3 billion will be removed from SoftBank's original $4.9 billion investment in New Sprint, with another $1.5 billion coming in incremental capital from SoftBank, bringing SoftBank's total investment to $21.6 billion.
As a result of these reworked terms, SoftBank will end up with a 78 percent stake in New Sprint, up from the 70 percent stake that it was originally slated to control. The two companies explained that they believe the new agreement makes sense due to "refined operating and capital expenditures synergy expectations resulting from extensive due diligence over the past nine months," as well as Sprint's rising profitability and the way that it's been carrying out its Network Vision plan.
In addition to detailing the revised SoftBank agreement, Sprint announced tonight that its Special Committee and board of directors have come to the decision that Dish Network's proposal for Sprint won't lead to a better deal that the SoftBank transaction. Sprint says that its Special Committee has ended its negotiations with Dish. However, Sprint's reworked agreement with SoftBank has also given Dish a deadline of June 18 to submit its best and final offer for Sprint. Sprint has also pushed back its stockholder vote on the SoftBank agreement from June 12 to June 25. Sprint and SoftBank expect the deal to close in early July.
In response to Sprint's statement, Dish has issued a statement saying that it still believes that Sprint "has tremendous value." The company goes on to say that it plans to look over the revised agreement between Sprint and SoftBank while it considers its options.
The Sprint-SoftBank agreement has been on quite a roll lately, picking up approval from the likes of the SEC, Committee on Foreign Investment and Department of Justice. These reworked terms of the deal are sure to please Sprint's stockholders, and while the deal still needs to be green-lit by the FCC and voted on by Sprint's shareholders, tonight's announcements seem to have pushed the battle for Sprint just a bit further into SoftBank's favor. It's not clear whether or not Dish will come back with an improved offer for Sprint, but with a June 18 deadline, Dish doesn't have a lot of time to weigh its options.
Via Sprint, Dish Network
