Earlier this morning, Sprint had an unexpected counter-bid to their pending Softbank merger from Dish Network. Dish has been quietly prepping its resources to add wireless voice & data to its list of services as it recently gained FCC approval to launch its own LTE network. Once thought to be connected to Google to make this happen, they have now moved to Sprint.
Dish is looking to provide Sprint with a boatload of $$$ to do whatever they want. The $25.5billion would provide the shareholders $17.3 billion in cash and $8.2 billion in stock. If this Dish deal happens, they will have to fork over a $600 million break-up fee to Softbank for interrupting their deal.
Softbank is a Japanese carrier that offered $20 billion to acquire 70% of Sprint back in October. This deal would give Sprint the necessary $$$ to build-out their LTE network faster and give Softbank a way into the American market. If this Dish deal goes through, this would keep Sprint a US-based company.
