Sprint today indicated that Softbank has made several exceptions to the merger agreement between the two companies that will allow Sprint to sign a non-disclosure agreement with Dish.
Sprint formed a Special Action Committee earlier this month to evaluate Dish’s proposed acquisition of Sprint for $25.5 billion. Sprint is holding separate discussions with Softbank, which is itself in the process of acquiring a 70% equity stake in Sprint.
Softbank had to make exceptions to the legal documents already in place. As such, Sprint is not allowed to share non-public information with Dish, meaning Dish cannot look at Sprint’s financials beyond its public quarterly and annual statements. Sprint is also not allowed to enter into any sort of negotiations with Dish regarding its offer. Sprint may only talk to Dish in order to get more information from the company concerning its proposal.
Sprint said this will be the only time its Special Action Committee makes any sort of comment until after it has fully evaluated Dish’s offer. It did not indicate how long the process might take.
