SoftBank, Sprint Nextel Wins FCC Approval: Reports

(RTTNews) - The three-way merger between SoftBank Corp (SFTBF.PK, SFTBY.PK), Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) and Clearwire Corp. (CLWR) is reportedly won approval from U.S. regulators on Wednesday. The Federal Communications Commission supported the bid by the Japanse telecom company SoftBank to acquire 78 percent stake in U.S. Mobile phone carrier Sprint Nextel in a sweetened offer of $21.6 billion. The deal is said to be the largest trasglobal acquisition by a Japanese firm.

The Federal Commission members also voted in support of the related merger of Sprint with the wireless company Clearwire. The merger is expected to close in the second week of July.

The third largest US mobile carrier will use the money from SoftBank for upgradation of network and to buyout the remaining Clearwire shares.

Earlier on June 25, shareholders of Sprint have approved the merger with the Japanese telecom, that ended the continued bid by satellite TV provider Dish Network Corp. The $25.5 billion cash and stock offer from Dish was retracted when SoftBank sweetened its cash consideration for Sprint to $16.64 billion from $12.1 billion along with a new capital investment of $8 billion.

For Clearwire, Sprint offered $14 billion, representing a premium of 47 percent.

S closed on Wednesday at $7.19 on a volume of 31.736 million shares.