(Forbes) Softbank Said To Be Scouting Europe For Opportunities


Softbank, owner of the majority of Sprint, is keeping an eye out for M&A opportunities in Europe while it awaits a liquidity boost from the IPO of Alibaba and presses US regulators to favor a Sprint-T-Mobile merger, said a telecom executive and banker.

Softbank’s preferred deal is one between Sprint and T-Mobile, the sources and two other bankers said, because the most cost effective telecom acquisitions are between networks on the same soil, which result in reduced operational expenses. But if Softbank fails to sway what seem to be recalcitrant antitrust officials into believing that three large US telecoms, AT&T, Verizon and Sprint, offer consumers a superior experience compared to four large US telecoms, with the addition of T-Mobile, it might use the proceeds of the Alibaba IPO to seek other opportunities. Softbank has a 37% stake in Alibaba, expected to be worth $150 billion to $250 billion when it debuts.

Mobile phone industry in Japan
Mobile phone industry in Japan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A spokesperson for Softbank declined comment.

The executive heard rumors that Softbank is evaluating a deal with Vodafone. As AT&T’s interest in Europe and the UK-based wireless carrier wanes, Vodafone presents an opportunity for international expansion, he said.

The bankers were skeptical. Even with proceeds from an Alibaba IPO, Softbank lacks the financial wherewithal to acquire Vodafone, they said. Vodafone is likely uninterested in taking on stock from Sprint, Softbank or associated concerns and would want cash if agreeing to a takeout, the first banker pointed out. Between market capitalization, debt and a premium, an acquisition of Vodafone could cost Softbank $160 billion, considerably less than anything the Japanese venture could generate in an Alibaba IPO.

An acquisition of Deutsche Telekom makes more sense, if Softbank is seeking a deal in Europe, said a second banker. DT’s an easier swallow with a market capitalization of $46 billion, a more geographically focused operation than Vodafone, and most importantly owns T-Mobile, the asset Softbank is eager to buy in the US.


The first banker doubted that the German government, which owns a 15% blocking stake in DT, would permit foreign ownership of its largest telecom. And the same holds true for large telecoms in countries throughout Europe, he said. He thought it made more sense for Softbank to be looking at smaller European telecoms, which are coming up for sale as markets improve.

A spokesperson for DT declined comment, and Vodafone did not respond to inquiries

(BFW) Vivendi Likely to Ask for Best and Final Offers, Jefferies Says

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Vivendi Likely to Ask for Best and Final Offers, Jefferies Says 2014-04-04 14:35:10.626 GMT

By Sam Chambers April 4 (Bloomberg) -- Vivendi will now probably ask Bouygues and Numericable for their best and final offers for SFR and then seek shareholder approval to mitigate risk of potential litigation, Jefferies says. * Jefferies: addition of strategic investors has transformed the credibility of Bouygues’s offer and co’s shareholders would still benefit from deal * Numericable will struggle to match cash portion of Bouygues’s offer, although co. could boost its proposed rights issue by EU1b * NOTE: Earlier, Bouygues raised the cash portion of its SFR offer by EU1.85b to EU15b. Story * NOTE: Liberum says Vivendi now likely to demand more cash from Altice * NOTE: Exclusive talks between Vivendi, Altice over SFR sale set to end today

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To contact the reporter on this story: Sam Chambers in London at +44-20-7673-2021 or schambers7@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Ludden at +44-20-7673-2645 or jludden@bloomberg.net