Sprint Nextel’s board is considering delaying the June 12 shareholder vote on SoftBank’s takeover proposal as Douglas County-based Dish Network works to firm up a $25.5 billion counter bid for the company, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Sprint is seeking a binding offer from Dish, rather than the preliminary bid it made in April, including details on financing sources, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. For now, the board is endorsing SoftBank’s $20.1 billion offer, which it approved in October after months of friendly negotiations.
Bob Toevs, a Dish spokesman, said his company is still negotiating with Sprint, and working with the carrier to complete due diligence for the deal.
“We are confident Sprint will recognize the economic and strategic superiority of the Dish proposal,” he said.
Charlie Ergen, Dish’s billionaire chairman, made the unsolicited bid for Sprint as part of an effort to expand into the mobile-phone industry.
