Sprint OKS Softbank acquisition

Bloomberg News

NEW YORK — Sprint Nextel Corp. shareholders have approved a $21.6 billion deal with Tokyo-based SoftBank Corp., agreeing to give the Japanese company control of the thirdlargest U. S. wireless carrier.

About 98 percent of the votes cast favored the transaction, Overland Park, Kan.-based Sprint said Tuesday in a statement. SoftBank, which has three of the four regulatory approvals needed to do the Sprint deal, still requires a final nod from the Federal Communications Commission.

The shareholder decision ends a takeover contest that saw a $25.5 billion counteroffer from satellite-television provider Dish Network Corp., a special agreement to appoint a national security representative to the company’s board and a bidding war for control of Clearwire Corp. — a wireless Internet service provider half-owned by Sprint.

For SoftBank president Masayoshi Son, the 61st-richest person in the world, the approval brings him a step closer to his goal of turning SoftBank into the world’s largest carrier. Fellow billionaire, Charlie Ergen, Dish’s chairman, had challenged Son for control of Sprint, only to abandon the plan last week after SoftBank sweetened its offer.

The FCC had no comment on when commissioners were scheduled to vote on the deal, said Neil Grace, a spokesman for the agency.

Son will serve as chairman of Sprint after the deal closes, with SoftBank Holdings Inc. president Ron Fisher becoming vice chairman.