Sprint, SoftBank Complete Merger

(RTTNews) - Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) and Japan's SoftBank Corp. said Wednesday that they have completed their merger whereby SoftBank has invested about $21.6 billion in Sprint, consisting of about $16.6 billion to be distributed to Sprint stockholders and an aggregate $5 billion of new capital to strengthen Sprint's balance sheet.

Through the deal, about 72% of current Sprint shares are being acquired by SoftBank for $7.65 per share in cash, and the remaining shares are being converted into shares of a new publicly traded entity named Sprint Corp. Each Sprint stockholder had the option to elect to receive one share of common stock in the new company or to elect to receive cash, subject to proration, for each share of Sprint common stock owned by that stockholder. A stockholder who made no election was deemed to have elected cash. As a result of the deal, the ownership of current Sprint equity holders in Sprint will be about 22%, while SoftBank will own about 78%. Sprint Corp. will be listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol, "S." Dan Hesse has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Sprint Corp. and will serve on the board of directors. Masayoshi Son, founder, Chairman and CEO of SoftBank will serve as Chairman of the Sprint Corp. board of directors and Ronald Fisher, director of SoftBank and president of SoftBank Holdings Inc., has been appointed Vice Chairman. Admiral Michael Mullen, Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been named to the Sprint Corp. board as Security Director. Robert Bennett, Gordon Bethune and Frank Ianna, who are currently members of the Sprint board, will also serve on the Sprint Corp. board. SoftBank and Sprint have not yet determined the remaining members of the Sprint Corp. board of directors. The company's headquarters will remain in Overland Park, Kansas.