DISH proposes merger with Sprint for $7.00 per share, or $25.5B

DISH Network (DISH) announced that it has submitted a merger proposal to the board of Sprint (S) for a total cash and stock consideration of $25.5B. DISH is offering Sprint shareholders a total consideration of $25.5B, consisting of $17.3B in cash and $8.2B in stock. Sprint shareholders would receive $7.00 per share, based upon DISH's closing price on April 12. This consists of $4.76 per share in cash and 0.05953 DISH shares per Sprint share. The cash portion of DISH's proposal represents an 18% premium over the $4.03 per share implied by the SoftBank proposal, and the equity portion represents approximately 32% ownership in the combined DISH/Sprint versus SoftBank's proposal of a 30% interest in Sprint alone. Together this represents a 13% premium to the value of the existing SoftBank proposal. The proposed combination will result in synergies and growth opportunities estimated at $37 billion in net present value, including an estimated $11 B in cost savings. Barclays is acting as financial advisor to DISH.