Dish Network offering to buy Sprint in $25.5B deal - The Denver Post

Dish Network offering to buy Sprint in $25.5B deal - The Denver Post

Dish Network has offered to buy Sprint Nextel Corp. in a $25.5 cash-and-stock deal. (AP

Paul Sakuma)NEW YORK—Dish Network is offering to buy Sprint Nextel Corp. in a cash-and-stock deal it values at $25.5 billion, saying its bid is superior to that of Japanese phone company SoftBank.

Sprint's stock jumped in morning trading Monday.

SoftBank Corp. is seeking approval from U.S. authorities for its $20 billion purchase of a 70 percent stake in Sprint Nextel Corp. that would be Japan's biggest foreign acquisition ever. Sprint previously said that it expected the deal with SoftBank to close during the summer.

The transaction, which was announced in October, was seen as a way to position Sprint as a stronger competitor against rivals AT&T and Verizon.

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