So, you remember that Softbank buyout of Sprint from late last year? Where Softbank will own 70% of Sprint soon? Dish Network, who was said to be in talks with several companies including Sprint and Google to use their spectrum they’ve acquired since 2008, was looking to put the brakes on this merger. Now the Department of Justice is also looking to have the FCC put on the brakes. Today, Bloomberg is reporting that the US Justice Department has just requested that the FCC delay the deal.
While the DOJ has recommended that the FCC delay their approval of the deal due to national security concerns, it looks like Dish has decided not to stand against the merger after all. Sprint and Softbank have exchanged a private sector problem for a governmental one. The Justice Department’s scrutiny certainly provides a significant hurdle for the deal to clear. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the two carriers can never be together though. We will have to wait and see what the DOJ has to say about it and if the FCC will approve the merger.
Sprint has also put out a statement regarding this.
This is a routine request when working with the CFIUS agencies regarding national security.
So it looks like the folks in Overland Park, Kansas aren’t to concerned over the Justice Department snooping around in their business. Which if they have nothing to hide, they shouldn’t be worried anyways. In the meantime, Sprint is still looking to acquire Clearwire, who did drop in the stock market by abut 4.2 percent and that’s the biggest decline in nearly a month for Clearwire. Sprint was hoping that Clearwire could help streamline their LTE network. As most of you know, Sprint’s network, to put it bluntly, sucks. So they need all the help they can get.
Are you surprise that the DOJ is looking to delay the merger between Softbank and Sprint? Hit up the comments below with your thoughts.
Source: Bloomberg, Bloomberg (Twitter)