T-Mobile US/Sprint talks enter late states; Softbank chief works to placate US regulators
Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son is making full use of his personal connections to placate US regulators as the negotiations between Sprint and T-Mobile US enter late stages, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.
The Japanese-language report disclosed that Son has been using his personal connections with former US Secretary of State Colin Powell to lobby US regulators who are seen to be opposed to the planned takeover of T-Mobile US by Softbank’s subsidiary Sprint.
The two men first met about a year ago in connection with a joint venture business in Japan named Bloom Energy, in which Powell is an outside director, the report said. When they met again over dinner in Washington in March, Powell reportedly agreed that a T-Mobile US deal would promote competition and urged Son to do his best. Although Powell is not in the position to directly affect policy, he has strong personal connections across all US political parties, and his influence on communications policies is not small, the report said.
Moreover, his son, Michael Powell, is a former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Son has also hired Bruce Gottlieb, former legal advisor to former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, the report noted. Gottlieb was an outside advisor when Softbank acquired Sprint.
Sprint is expected to reach agreement on a deal to acquire T-Mobile US for an estimated USD 32bn sometime this summer, the report said.
T-Mobile US is majority owned by Deutsche Telekom.
Source Nihon Keizai Shimbun