Softbank to Buy Sprint Nextel for About $20 Billion

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Softbank to Buy Sprint Nextel for About $20 Billion
By DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI And KANA INAGAKI

TOKYO—Japan's Softbank Corp. said Monday it will buy a 70% stake in U.S. mobile carrier Sprint Nextel Corp. for about $20 billion in the biggest-ever overseas acquisition by a Japanese firm.

The deal is designed to carve an opening in the U.S. for Softbank, Japan's third-largest mobile carrier. It will provide the third-largest U.S. wireless operator an immediate infusion of cash, helping it to compete better with bigger rivals in one of the world's biggest and most lucrative markets for smartphones.

In a statement, Softbank said it would acquire a majority stake in the U.S. carrier by buying $8 billion of shares directly from Sprint and then buying another $12.1 billion of shares in the market.

The deal would transform Softbank, a relative newcomer in the telecommunications industry, into one of the world's largest telecom groups with about 90 million subscribers when combined with Sprint. It expects to complete the deal by mid-2013.