Dish Network told the FCC Friday that SoftBank’s...
Dish Network told the FCC Friday that SoftBank’s revised offer to buy 78 percent of Sprint Nextel is a “substantial amendment” that requires the agency to issue a new public notice and a new opportunity for interested parties to comment…
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(http://bit.ly/1amcs2b). SoftBank and Sprint had argued Thursday that there was “no factual or legal basis” for requiring a new notice and comment period (CD June 14 p11). SoftBank’s revised offer includes $5 billion cash investment in Sprint -- 40 percent below the $8 billion it promised in its original offer. Dish took issue with SoftBank’s claims that the decreased investment amount did not substantially affect the deal’s public interest component, saying SoftBank relied heavily on the original $8 billion investment promise as a way of justifying the public interest aspect of the deal. “One of the two pillars of the purported public benefits to the proposed transaction has been cut down in size by almost 40 percent,” Dish said. The company also took issue with SoftBank and Sprint’s claim that Dish’s criticisms of the decreasing amount of U.S. ownership in Sprint was xenophobic. “The one-two combination of a foreign entity not only acquiring control but making it more difficult for others to vie for control or influence is relevant to this statutorily mandated review,” Dish said. SoftBank and Sprint said in a separate filing Friday that SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and Sprint CEO Dan Hesse had urged FCC action on the deal in a conversation with acting FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn and other FCC staff. The FCC’s informal 180-day “shot clock” expired weeks ago, and the deal had cleared all other remaining regulatory hurdles, the companies said. Approval delays would be a “thumb on the scale” against shareholder approval of the deal, the companies said (http://bit.ly/13H4cpZ).