Largest foreign acquisition by Japanese company ever.
AFP / Getty Images
Japanese mobile-phone company Softbank announced Monday that it had struck a more than $20 billion deal to buy three quarters of U.S.-based Sprint Nextel. The acquisition is the largest foreign buy ever conducted by a Japanese company. Announced Monday in Tokyo, the purchase has been approved by the boards of both companies, but still requires the approval of regulators in the U.S. and Sprint shareholders. Softbank president Masayoshi Son said the deal made good sense because of America’s massive smartphone market.
