By Mari Saito
TOKYO (Reuters) - SoftBank Corp President Masayoshi Son came out swinging on Tuesday against a counteroffer for Sprint Nextel Corp, saying rival bidder Dish Network Corp was ill-prepared to run the wireless carrier and refusing to raise his own $20.1 billion bid.
Billionaire Son dismissed Dish's $25.5 billion offer as "incomplete and illusory" and - while insisting that an apples-to-apples comparison of the two bids was impossible - said his plan would yield better value for shareholders and greater synergies.
"Our price offer is better than theirs. Our timing is one year quicker at least. Our leverage is much more healthy," Son told a packed news conference in Tokyo.
"(Their) financing is uncommitted. We are committed."
U.S. satellite TV provider Dish, aiming to tap Sprint's wireless network to offer video services that users could access anytime, anywhere, trumped SoftBank's cash offer in October for a 70 percent stake in Sprint - a bold move by Son who stressed the Japanese company's need to look for growth abroad.
Son argued that, factoring in regulatory delays, breakup fees, transaction costs and synergy effects, SoftBank's bid would end up worth 21 percent more than Dish's.
Neil Juggins, a Hong Kong-based regional telecoms analyst at Societe Generale affiliate JI Asia, said Son raised important points, such as regulatory checks that would be required due to the combined spectrum held by Dish and Sprint.
"He has given a rebuttal that now will be pitched to shareholders," Juggins said.
Son made his case as SoftBank reported a record 745 billion yen ($7.59 billion) operating profit for the year to March 31, up 10 percent from the previous year. He forecast a further rise this year to between 800 billion and 900 billion yen.
In a dig at Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen, Son said SoftBank had built up strong partnerships with leading U.S. tech firms such as Google Inc and Intel Corp, contrasting that with what he said were Dish's "ugly" litigation battles.
BACKING FROM INTEL CEO
SoftBank secured support for the deal from Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini, who wrote the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission saying that Son's vision to build a high-speed U.S. national network was compelling.
Son dismissed the possibility, suggested by some analysts, of a partnership with Dish, saying he did not consider it necessary and that it may be difficult for the two firms to work together.
The Japanese executive also played down U.S. national security concerns over its use of Chinese telecoms equipment, a potential hurdle given the equipment makers' ties to the Chinese government.
Son confirmed that the company had made commitments not to use equipment from Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp in the United States, adding that U.S. regulatory approval was proceeding smoothly and was on track for completion by July 1.
Sprint has set June 12 as the tentative date for a special meeting for shareholders to vote on the proposed deal with SoftBank. Son said it was crucial for the company to win support among Sprint's long-term institutional shareholders and said he would travel to the United States in May to pitch SoftBank's proposal.
He may face a tough sell. John Paulson, whose hedge fund is Sprint's fourth-largest shareholder, has said that Dish's bid was compelling and offered more value to shareholders.
SoftBank's shares ended 1.2 percent higher on Tuesday, before Son's comments, compared with a 0.2 percent dip in Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei average. Although the shares lost nearly one-fourth of their value in the two days after the Sprint deal was announced in October, they have since rebounded and are up 67 percent since that time, in line with the Nikkei's 62 percent surge.
($1 = 98.1500 Japanese yen)
(Additional reporting by Reiji Murai; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/japans-softbank-brief-sprint-deal-gets-intel-ceos-055103439.html
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