Sprint Nextel Corporation and SoftBank today announced the completion of their contentious merger with the revelation that SoftBank has invested approximately $21.6 billion in Sprint, consisting of approximately $16.6 billion to be distributed to Sprint stockholders and an aggregate $5 billion of new capital to strengthen Sprint’s balance sheet. Sprint stockholders voted to approve the transaction at a special meeting of stockholders held on June 25, 2013.
Through this transaction, approximately 72 percent 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 Corporation. 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 for each share of Sprint common stock owned by that stockholder.
Sprint Corporation will be listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol “S.” The new comany has been advised by the NYSE that it is expected that Sprint Corporation will continue to trade on the NYSE’s “when-issued” market on July 11, with regular trading under the ticker symbol “S” will commencing on July 12.
Dan Hesse has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Sprint Corporation and will serve on the board of directors. Masayoshi Son — the founder, Chairman and CEO of SoftBank — will serve as Chairman of the Sprint Corporation board of directors and Ronald Fisher, director of SoftBank and president of SoftBank Holdings, has been appointed Vice Chairman. Admiral Michael G. Mullen, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been named to the Sprint Corporation board of directors as Security Director. Robert Bennett, Gordon Bethune and Frank Ianna, who are currently members of the Sprint board, will also serve on the Sprint Corporation board of directors. SoftBank and Sprint have not yet determined the remaining members of the Sprint Corporation board of directors. The company’s headquarters will remain in Overland Park, KS.
