On June 30, Ken Siegel and Rob Townsend were named Am Law's Dealmakers of Week for their role in representing Tokyo-based Internet and telecommunications company SoftBank in its $21.6 billion acquisition of a 78 percent stake in Sprint Nextel. The transaction, which was approved by shareholders on June 26, was announced in October and is expected to close in July. Am Law referred to the deal as "SoftBank's largest acquisition to date" and said the "purchase of the majority Sprint stake is also the largest-ever overseas acquisition by a Japanese company."
As the article noted, SoftBank raised its bid for Sprint Nextel in response to a competing bid from the DISH Network, which was withdrawn last week. The article also notes that once SoftBank finalizes its acquisition of the Sprint stake, the two companies will move quickly to close on Sprint's related acquisition of the 49 percent stake in cellular network Clearwire Corp. that Sprint does not already own.
Am Law noted that both Siegel and Townsend have strong experience in technology-related M&A work in Japan. The article reports that Townsend handled the U.S. side of the deal, while Siegel worked closely with SoftBank executives in Japan, coordinated with the rest of the MoFo team and maintained direct involvement on regulatory matters.
Townsend told Am Law that the deal negotiations have been unlike any he's ever been involved with before, and called the transaction, an "immensely complex and fascinating" process. Townsend said, "You've seen references in the press to this being the most complicated deal in decades and it certainly felt like it at the time."
Am Law reported that with roughly 42 million subscribers, SoftBank is currently Japan's third-largest wireless company. It is also the country's fastest-growing company.