Softbank Chief Defends $20 Billion Sprint Takeover Bid

The head of Japanese mobile operator Softbank on Tuesday defended his proposed $20 billion takeover of U.S. firm Sprint Nextel,

which will see his already heavily indebted company taking on even more loans.

Masayoshi Son said Softbank's bid to buy 70 percent of Sprint ultimately offered a better deal for shareholders over the unsolicited $25.5 billion bid from American satellite-television provider DISH Network.

"We will bring growth to Sprint which Sprint has not seen in many years," Son told a press briefing in Japan, rejecting the rival DISH bid as inadequate and "very complicated".

The head of Japan's third-biggest mobile operator painted his firm as the one with more experience in debt-financed takeovers and said Softbank's bid could be consummated one year earlier than its rival.

The firm had addressed U.S. regulators' concerns over national security tied to a foreign takeover of Sprint, he added.

Earlier this month, Softbank said it was on track to seal the agreement, announced in October, by the end of July. If successful, the deal would become the biggest overseas acquisition by a Japanese firm.

When asked if he thought Sprint shareholders would choose his firm's offer, Son said: "I'm sure they need a few days to digest.

"Today is the fist time I'm explaining our side of the story.

"I'm very positive that when they understand this from 360 degrees... they will make the right choice, a prudent decision."

DISH said it was offering to buy Sprint, the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier, for $17.3 billion in cash and $8.2 billion in stock.

Charlie Ergen, DISH's chairman, has said his firm's proposal "clearly presents Sprint shareholders with a superior alternative to the pending Softbank proposal".

Son's press briefing came after Softbank Tuesday said its annual net profit had slipped 7.8 percent on investment-linked losses.

The firm posted a net profit of 289.40 billion yen ($2.96 billion) on sales of 3.38 trillion yen, up 5.5 percent from a year earlier, it said.

Softbank has benefited from growing demand at home for Apple's iPhone and had been the only Japanese mobile operator to offer the smartphone until KDDI, the country's second-largest operator, joined the fray.

For the full year to March, SoftBank posted a 745-billion-yen operating profit, up 10.3 percent, thanks to a strengthening of its its network and customer base.