Official: SoftBank to acquire 70% of Sprint for $20.1 billion

It is official, folks! The acquisition of Sprint by SoftBank has been approved by both companies' boards of directors. If the FCC and other regulatory organs give the green light on the deal, the Japanese carrier will invest $20.1 billion in Sprint, $12.1 billion of which will be paid to shareholders, while the remaining $8 billion of new capital will be used to "strengthen Sprint’s balance sheet". The transaction is expected to close by mid-2013.

Once the acquisition is complete, SoftBank will become one of the largest providers of mobile Internet access worldwide thanks to the huge combined subscriber base of the two companies. The combined mobile telecom service revenue will rank third amongst global operations. The aforementioned $8 billion will be used towards establishing a more solid mobile network in the U.S. and other strategic investments that will hopefully make Sprint more competitive on the market.

If SoftBank fails to obtain sufficient financing and the deal does not close as a result, it must pay Sprint a termination fee of $600 million. The same amount will be owed to SoftBank by Sprint if the latter accepts a superior offer by a third party. In case Sprint's shareholders do not approve the transaction at their shareholder meeting, Sprint will have to pay up to $75 million of SoftBank's expenses.

source: SoftBank