In a recent filing with the SEC, Sprint Nextel (S +0.00%) has laid out the procedure by which the Japanese mobile operator SoftBank will acquire its 70% slice of Sprint.
SoftBank has already created an entity incorporated in Delaware called "Starburst II." That corporation then created an entity incorporated in Kansas called "Starburst III."
When the deal is completed, Starburst III will be merged into Sprint Nextel Corporation, and Starburst II will change its name to Sprint Corporation. Sprint Nextel Corporation will then become a wholly owned subsidiary of Sprint Corporation.
The former Sprint Nextel will then become known as Sprint on the New York Stock Exchange.
Got that?
Basically, the Nextel moniker will go the way of the Nextel iDEN push-to-talk wireless network -- that is, just plain gone. Sprint has already begun shutting down its iDEN sites this year and expects to pull the plug on all of them by mid-2013. There are only 3.1 million subscribers still using the Nextel service, down from a peak 20 million.
The SEC filing was basically a rehash of a document Sprint put out for its employees -- an FAQ, if you will -- to address the many questions that such a melding of companies would bring up, including layoffs.
"SoftBank has a track record of acquiring and supporting companies during a turnaround without conducting employee reductions," the document states. "We believe this transaction will position Sprint to grow and create new jobs."
And who will be the CEO, and where will Sprint be headquartered?
"Dan Hesse will continue as the CEO of Sprint and the company's headquarters will continue to be in Overland Park, Kan.," according to the filing.
It also points out that besides the usual vetting such a proposed transaction would be subjected to by the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice, Sprint and SoftBank will "also work with the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) and its member agencies, including the Department of Defense, to address any national security issues that emerge in the CFIUS process."
Sprint and SoftBank expect the deal to be done by mid-2013.
