Softbank Wants A $23 Billion Loan To Buy 70% Of Sprint


Recommended Posts

As we reported yesterday, there are decidedly loud rumblings that Japanese telecom giant Softbank is in talks to acquire a rather large hunk of Sprint. Today, more information regarding the potential deal has been leaked to Reuters by a person close to the matter, and the numbers are staggering.

Softbank is looking to buy 70% of Sprint, and they're asking for $23 billion in financing from Japanese banks to do it. The issue is that Softbank may not be able to get that financing. Not only is the company they're looking to take control of in significant debt (Sprint is about $15 billion in the hole), Softbank itself is currently saddled with $10 billion in unpaid obligations.

Analysts (sigh) are saying that the entire deal is basically being forced by the man who owns Softbank, Masayoshi Son. Apparently Son believes that Sprint is simply too cheap not to buy, especially with a strong Yen against the dollar, and that it's the best opportunity for Softbank to break into the US wireless market. Son is Japan's second-richest man, so, maybe he's knows what he's doing.

There's also speculation that after buying Sprint, Softbank would make a move on either Clearwire, which Sprint already owns a lot of, or MetroPCS, which Sprint allegedly wants to buy. Compared to the $23 billion needed to take on Sprint, either of those firms would cost just a paltry several billion dollars - pocket change.

This is all still in the planning stages, and if a takeover does materialize, it would likely need more than a year to get over regulatory hurdles and the like, so don't get too excited quite yet.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/10/12/softbank-wants-a-23-billion-loan-to-buy-70-of-sprint/

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Excuse me for having an opinion, fella'... (Why am I not surprised?...) Congrats on your very informative post however...
    • By the sounds of that wall of Fox News propaganda gibberish attacking the Democratic Party you've already had plenty of "juices" flowing this morning. You've ruined what could have been a productive comment thread.
    • (Topic to get the juices flowing this Sunday morning!...) Actually, the situation has almost nothing to do with "lack of skills", especially since assembly-line skills can be taught to anyone, including Americans, certainly. Rather, the inadequacy-to-impossibility of large-scale tech manufacturing in America today, and the reasons why America finds tech manufacturing completely onerous in the 21st century, has to do with politically driven laws amid a plethora of non-scientific, utterly politicized "science-fact" that is patently false, punitive business taxation at every turn, an array of judicial fines of unimaginable scope and complexity, and, last but not least, American unionization strictures that serve to actually slay job creation and hobble all such manufacturing endeavors in America before they can get off the ground. Globalism emerged, they tell us, as the needed answer to American hubris and an unholy American drive to excel. Unless one is buried under mounds of political propaganda, it's easy to see the absurdity of labeling the employees of SpaceX, for instance, as "unskilled labor"... Etc. ad infinitum. At one time in the recent past, American manufacturing prowess was the envy of the world in a wide variety of technical fields! The current federal and state government roadblocks against America becoming competitive globally in tech manufacturing are considerable, it's true, as anyone with a working brain knows. But remarkably, that is only half the story! The other half of the story is, of course, the corporations themselves... Chinese tech manufacturing is simply unassailable in terms of profits, because the Chinese government wants to see its tech manufacturing second-to-none globally so that no companies/nations can compete in terms of ROI, and China has completely succeeded in that goal. Let's tic-off a few things: *Chinese tariff policies are set according to what is considered best for Chinese business, Chinese employees, and the Chinese people. Huge difference with how things are done with tariffs in the US--as the US government (SCOTUS in this case, Congress in others) plainly feels that tariffs are "unfair" for the limited number of citizens who may pay them, whereas nothing is "unfair" when Congress considers the Personal Income Tax rates to be infinitely hike-able, along with infinitely enlarging annual budget deficits. *The Chinese government boldly subsidizes Chinese companies to artificially amplify their profits. *The Chinese government deliberately refuses to avidly demonize Chinese businesses and does not consider Chinese businesses "the enemy", so very unlike American (D)s these days. *Chinese labor laws and businesses are allowed to set their own labor policies according to what Chinese companies consider is best for companies and their employees... Simply put, American workers in tech manufacturing are not allowed to set their own labor policies! It is the height of hypocrisy for Americans to decry working conditions in China while simultaneously ensuring that American products are manufactured in China, not in the US, simply to maximize profits. There is nothing wrong with making a profit, of course, absolutely nothing. But there is plenty wrong with attempts to normalize hypocrisy of this kind! But rank hypocrisy and the (D) party in the US are longtime bedfellows... The current government in Washington is working overtime to see if it can toss out the horribly poor, failed economic policies of the past, while the (D)s still in Washington work very hard to bring back the stupidity whenever possible. With the right policies in place, America can be an infinitely competitive manufacturer.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Conversation Starter
      jessse3334 earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • Reacting Well
      JuvenileDelinquent earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • One Month Later
      Excellence2025 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Excellence2025 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      flexorcist earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      508
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      198
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      152
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      73
    5. 5
      FloatingFatMan
      64
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!