Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) has tentatively set June 12 as the date
for a shareholder vote on selling a 70% stake to Japan's SoftBank
Corp. (9984.TO) for $20.1 billion.
A Sprint spokesman said the proxy related to the vote hasn't
been approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the
date may change. The news of the tentative date was first reported
by Reuters Friday.
Sprint, the No. 3 U.S. wireless carrier, is intertwined in a
series of deals that aim to remake the long-struggling company.
After striking a deal with SoftBank last fall, Dish Network Corp.
(DISH) made a competing $25.5 billion proposal to buy Sprint last
week.
Sprint's board has formed a special committee to evaluate the
Dish offer and it has also requested additional information from
Dish. A number of major Sprint shareholders have voiced their
endorsement of the Dish offer.
Sprint itself is in the process of buying the portion of
mobile-broadband company Clearwire Corp. (CLWR) that it doesn't
already own.
Dish had made an offer for Clearwire prior to its proposal for
all of Sprint. Dish has said it would be able to sign a definitive
agreement to buy Sprint shortly after Sprint grants access to its
financial details.
SoftBank has said it believes its deal brings "superior short
and long term benefits to DISH's highly conditional preliminary
proposal."
Earlier this week, Sprint's Chief Executive Dan Hesse said the
Clearwire and SoftBank deals are scheduled to close by July 1,
along with assets being purchased from U.S. Cellular Corp.
(USM).
Write to Thomas Gryta at thomas.gryta@dowjones.com
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