All Sprint acquisition discussion (was "Japan's Softbank in talks for $12.8 bln Sprint stake")

[shockerengr]

I would love to see clear become/remain a wholesale access messiah to mvno's and regionals... it goes against everything Ergen believes in and is good for the consumer

 

Sent from my Note II. Its so big.

 

I agree it would be good, but Clearwire has said several times that the wholesale route hasn't worked out very well for them.  As a standalone network, they aren't set up well for anything more than fixed usage due to the holes in coverage in a large part of their footprint, and most of the other networks that might entertain wholesale coverage would need an overlay to fill in those spots.

 

The role that clearwire will play in network vision (offload the lower bands) is exactly what they've been pitching to other potential customers, but have largely been shunned.

[JeffDTD]

Softbank has the experience and seems confident that Clear's spectrum can be put to good use. The excess capacity provided by proper deployment of clear's assets will far exceed sprint's userbase. Regardless of what its called, we are going to see more mvno's and regional agreements than ever, possibly utilizing pcs in conjunction with brs/ebs , possibly a regional's native voice/data with brs/ebs only. And why not?

 

There is money in this. Clear's financial burden has always been about network capex.

 

There is no good reason any network should have to re-sell access as cheaply as clear has been meagerly able to do (free in some cases). Its lack of profitability directly correlates with its quality. A better deployed network with the same specteum WILL be more profitable. So excited to have Son in at the table!!!!

 

Sent from my Note II. Its so big.

 

[bigsnake49]

Softbank has the experience and seems confident that Clear's spectrum can be put to good use. The excess capacity provided by proper deployment of clear's assets will far exceed sprint's userbase. Regardless of what its called, we are going to see more mvno's and regional agreements than ever, possibly utilizing pcs in conjunction with brs/ebs , possibly a regional's native voice/data with brs/ebs only. And why not?

 

There is money in this. Clear's financial burden has always been about network capex.

 

There is no good reason any network should have to re-sell access as cheaply as clear has been meagerly able to do (free in some cases). Its lack of profitability directly correlates with its quality. A better deployed network with the same specteum WILL be more profitable. So excited to have Son in at the table!!!!

 

Sent from my Note II. Its so big.

 

If it's used for mobile broadband then they need to just use it for hotspot duty or it becomes very expensive to deploy. The only way to have it done cheaply is in conjunction with the cable cos as strand mounted DAS, with the basestation logic back at the regular basestation. Again, that's a hell of a lot of bandwidth and they better have good uses for all that bandwidth.

 

I like Dish's use for Clearwire's spectrum better because they will use it for fixed broadband and OTT video. It's probably why the cable cos that still own Clearwire spectrum will vote as a block with Sprint and against Dish. After all, Dish is a video competitor and may become a fixed broadband competitor as well. 

[Rawvega]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-11/dish-sprint-talks-said-to-falter-in-part-over-breakup-fee-issue.html?cmpid=yhoo

 

 

Dish-Sprint Talks Said to Falter in Part Over Breakup-Fee Issue
By Serena Saitto - Jun 11, 2013 9:46 AM GMT-0700

Dish Network Corp. (DISH)’s merger talks with Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) faltered in part over Sprint demanding a $3 billion breakup fee in case the deal didn’t win regulatory approval, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

Dish had proposed a $1 billion termination fee instead, said one of the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions were private. Sprint announced yesterday that Dish hadn’t produced an “actionable” bid and moved instead to endorse a sweetened, $21.6 billion offer from SoftBank Corp. (9984), which originally agreed to acquire the carrier in October.


Sprint Nextel Corp. announced yesterday that Dish Network Corp. hadn’t produced an “actionable” bid and moved instead to endorse a sweetened, $21.6 billion offer from SoftBank Corp., which originally agreed to acquire the carrier in October


To contact the reporter on this story: Serena Saitto in New York at ssaitto@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net; Jeffrey McCracken at jmccracken3@bloomberg.net; Michael Tighe at mtighe4@bloomberg.net

 

 

Pretty smart. They don't want to hook up with Dish so they put a poison pill in the agreement that they know Dish won't agree to and then refuse to budge on it. I still can't believe that AT&T actually allowed that exorbitant break up fee with T-Mobile to be put into their merger agreement.

[Gmotif6]

Just seen on a finance channel. Now Sprint is waiting for counter offer from Dish. Is all this to please shareholders pockets while Sprint custys suffer from slow rollout and bad coverage?

[Rawvega]

Already a lengthy thread in the General Topics forum regarding this subject.

[cletus]

So the new Softbank deal sucks. The new deal is $16.6 billion + $5 billion in cash=$21.6 billion for 78% stake. Compare that to the old deal which was $20.1 billion for a 70% stake. 

 

This offer is actually a significantly lower valuation of $27.75 billion now vs $28.88 billion before.

[JeffDTD]

Id call the 3B absolutely reasonable, not a poison pill. The cost to undo the softbank deal together with the financial cost Sprint would incur if Dish ultimately walked away from them together with the lost opportunity caused by chasing softbank away is easily worth 3 billion

 

Tmo got 4B from ATT and they are smaller than sprint. This is typical Ergen. Once he had softbank out of the picture, his scrooge ways would have set in. I officially retract my opinion about charlie wanting a wireless network. I believe the analysts who declared this a big bluff for Ergen to score a hosting deal were spot on

 

Sent from my Note II. Its so big.

 

[marioc21]

So the new Softbank deal sucks. The new deal is $16.6 billion + $5 billion in cash=$21.6 billion for 78% stake. Compare that to the old deal which was $20.1 billion for a 70% stake. 

 

This offer is actually a significantly lower valuation of $27.75 billion now vs $28.88 billion before.

 

It's the tradeoff for receiving almost a $1.50 more per share in cold hard cash instead of stock in the "New Sprint". 

[WiWavelength]

Just seen on a finance channel. Now Sprint is waiting for counter offer from Dish. Is all this to please shareholders pockets while Sprint custys suffer from slow rollout and bad coverage?

 

Network Vision is not a "slow rollout."  It is basically unprecedented in its scope and speed.  As for coverage, that has not changed.  If you were not happy with Sprint coverage prior to Network Vision, then you are guilty of choosing an operator that does not have the coverage you need/desire.

 

AJ

[koiulpoi]

Network Vision is not a "slow rollout."  It is basically unprecedented in its scope and speed.  As for coverage, that has not changed.  If you were not happy with Sprint coverage prior to Network Vision, then you are guilty of choosing an operator that does not have the coverage you need/desire.

 

AJ

(mildly offtopic but) I'm really starting to think that, in most customer's minds, "slow" actually means "late". And "late" means "I want it now!". They want NV to have started years ago. By some respects, it should have, but that doesn't stop reality.

[WiWavelength]

(mildly offtopic but) I'm really starting to think that, in most customer's minds, "slow" actually means "late". And "late" means "I want it now!".

 

Yes, we have a default video clip for any "I want it now!" folks.  It also includes the correct response to them:  "Can it, you nit!"

 

 

AJ

[ChadBroChillz]

Id call the 3B absolutely reasonable, not a poison pill. The cost to undo the softbank deal together with the financial cost Sprint would incur if Dish ultimately walked away from them together with the lost opportunity caused by chasing softbank away is easily worth 3 billion

 

Tmo got 4B from ATT and they are smaller than sprint. This is typical Ergen. Once he had softbank out of the picture, his scrooge ways would have set in. I officially retract my opinion about charlie wanting a wireless network. I believe the analysts who declared this a big bluff for Ergen to score a hosting deal were spot on

 

Sent from my Note II. Its so big.

 

Tmobile got 6 billion actually. 3 billion in cash, 2 billion in spectrum, and an HSPA+ roaming agreement with 1 Billion.   3 Billion is more than reasonable, especially since Sprint would have had to pay 1 billion just to get out of the Softbank deal. 

 

The biggest poison pill now is the Sprint Shareholder rights agreement, which basically states that no company can own more than 17% of Sprint besides Softbank. We will not see Cheapie Charlie try and steal the deal with a tender offer like he is attempting with Clearwire. The new deal also raises the termination fee to 800million, any offer must be fully funded to be considered superior, and finally Dish cannot try and pull a fast one with a last minute bid. 

[Rawvega]

I believe he's referring to the $3B in breakup fees that Sprint was asking Dish to agree to.

[Guest sectime]

What if Dish's endgame is not about Sprint at all, just Clear, To dovetail with Google and Dish's plans?

[yankeesusa]

Softbank just raised their offer. It went from 20.1 billion to 21.6 billion and supposedly they won more shareholder approval. In reality it's better for them to merge over dish. They have phone networks knowledge and maybe those who travel to softbank area will get a low roaming charges through some type of agreement. I just want something to happen soon so Sprint can use the money to keep boosting the lte expansion.

 

Sent from the Great Galaxy Note 2 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[bigsnake49]

What if Dish's endgame is not about Sprint at all, just Clear, To dovetail with Google and Dish's plans?T

The most ever Dish will get is 32% of the company. Enough to cause trouble but no more than that.

[twospirits]

So..... the Clearwire Committee is backing up Dish's offer thus delaying the Sprint vote.

 

 I am sooo getting tired of Dish and what is Clearwire thinking. aarrgghh.

[ahecht]

Here's a link without a pay wall:

 

http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2013/06/12/reports-clearwire-set-to-back-dish-bid/

 

[cletus]

So..... the Clearwire Committee is backing up Dish's offer thus delaying the Sprint vote.

 

 I am sooo getting tired of Dish and what is Clearwire thinking. aarrgghh.

This is for Dish's offer on Clearwire I believe (not a WSJ sub) http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-12/clearwire-board-backs-dish-s-bid-over-sprint-s-competing-offer.html not for the Dish offer on Sprint itself.

[Gmotif6]

That' can be hindsight
 

[WiWavelength]

That' can be hindsight

 

 

Hindsight is 20/20.  Playing that is like playing Monday morning quarterback.  It is too easy and divorced from reality.

 

AJ

[bobbi]

The latest... Dish sends new letter to FCC

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-13/dish-says-softbank-s-lower-sprint-cash-infusion-broke-fcc-pledge.html

[juant87]

The latest... Dish sends new letter to FCC

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-13/dish-says-softbank-s-lower-sprint-cash-infusion-broke-fcc-pledge.html

DISH is starting to look like that clingy ex-gf trying to ruin a marriage

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[ChadBroChillz]

Lets see

 

5 billion cash infusion or -9 billion cash infusion.

 

Dish has no room to talk. Also I believe the FCC and DOJ are secretly rooting for Softbank. They have made it clear that the wireless market needs a strong 3 possibly 4 to compete against the duopoly.

 

I am surprised that the FCC has taken so long.