Sprint completes $21.6B deal with SoftBank

Sprint completes $21.6B deal with SoftBankUS telecom major, Sprint has said on Wednesday that it has completed a deal valued at $21.6 billion to transfer a 78 per cent stake in the company to Japanese telecommunications and Internet services giant SoftBank.

The deal was finalised amid much competition from the Dish Network Corp, which had also launched its bid for Sprint, which is the third largest telecom service provider in the US. The deal places the telecom major under the control of Japanese firm. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse will retain his position, while SoftBank head Masayoshi Son will become the chairman of the firm. SoftBank's head for US operations, Ronald Fisher will now become the vice chairman at Sprint.

Sprint had said that about 80 per cent of its shares outstanding voted in favour of $21.6 billion deal with Softbank. The shareholders of Sprint Nextel have approved a revised offer form SoftBank to take over the company concluding a long standing fight to acquire the third largest telecom service provider in the US market.

Dish Network Corp had earlier said that it would not submit a revised bid for the Sprint Nextel Corp. Masayoshi Son, the Chief Executive Officer of SoftBank Corp had earlier said that rival bidder, Dish Network Corp would be a poor match for telecom major, Sprint Nextel Corp. Sprint had agreed to the bid from SoftBank but Dish launched an alternative bid valued at $25.5 billion that led to a prolonged takeover process.