Morrison & Foerster and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom have scored leading advisory roles on Japanese mobile operator Softbank Corp’s proposed $20.1 billion purchase of a 70 percent stake in U.S. carrier Sprint Nextel Corp.
The deal marks the largest outbound acquisition by a Japanese company, and gives Softbank entry into a growing U.S. market. Combined, Softbank and Sprint will have 96 million users.
MoFo Tokyo managing partner Ken Siegel and San Francisco partner Robert Townsend led the 16-partner team for Softbank. Other Tokyo-based partners included Andrew Winden (Corporate), Ivan Smallwood (Corporate), Dale Caldwell (Corporate), and Eric Roose (Tax).
Skadden acted as lead counsel to Sprint, while Mori Hamada & Matsumoto advised Softbank on Japanese law.
Part of the deal involves an injection of billions of dollars into Sprint, empowering it to compete more effectively with its two larger U.S. rivals, AT&T and Verizon Wireless.
“It could be safe if you do nothing, and our challenge in the U.S. is not going to be easy at all. We must enter a new market, one with a different culture, and we must start again from zero after all we have built…But not taking this challenge will be a bigger risk,” said Softbank chairman and chief executive, Masayoshi Son, at a news conference in Tokyo, Reuters reported.
Mizuho Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and Deutsche Bank have green-lighted 1.65 trillion yen ($21.1 billion) in loans to Softbank, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The Sprint-Softbank tie-up elevates outbound deals by Japanese firms to a record $75 billion this year, according to Thomson Reuters data, reflecting a healthy appetite for overseas assets, buoyed by a strong yen and economical acquisition financing.
Kanishk Verghese is North Asia journalist at ALB. Follow us on Twitter: @ALB_Magazine.
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