Sprint Nextel shareholders recently voted overwhelmingly to approve a proposed merger between Sprint and SoftBank. Earlier this week, the deal cleared one final hurdle with the unanimous decision by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to approve the merger. Today, Sprint and SoftBank have announced that the merger is officially complete.
SoftBank has paid $21.6 billion for Sprint, acquiring 72% of Sprint’s current shares for $7.65 per share. Around $16.6 billion of that money is available to Sprint stockholders, with the rest being invested in shoring up the newly named Sprint Corporation’s financials. The new company will be traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “S” starting July 12.
This is the second large transaction Sprint has completed this week. On Tuesday Sprint officially acquired mobile company Clearwire.
Dan Hesse, CEO of Sprint Nextel, has been named the CEO of Sprint Corporation. Chairman, CEO, and founder of SoftBank Masayoshi Son will serve as the new chairman of the board of Sprint Corporation. President of SoftBan Holdings Ronald Fisher has been named vice chairman of the board, and former U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen has also been named to the board. The new company’s headquarters will stay in Sprint’s old headquarters location, Overland Park, Kansas.