Fitch Ratings has given DISH Network‘s recent proposed offering of $2.5 billion in senior secured notes a speculative investment grade of “BB-”. Fitch also gave a continuing “Negative” outlook for all of DISH’s debt ratings on Wednesday. The satellite TV provider had around $11.9 billion in debt at the end of the first quarter.

Fitch said Wednesday that it based its rating on both the company’s “inconsistent” operating results and on the increased debt DISH would need to take on in its $25.5 billion bid for Sprint Nextel. The Sprint bid would require DISH borrowing a further $9.3 billion on top of the $12 billion in cash and liquid securities it has already gathered for the proposed transaction, Fitch said.

The $2.5 billion DISH offering would be put in escrow and make up part of the Sprint transaction, if successful. If not, those notes would be redeemed using cash from the escrow account.

DISH announced this morning that it had placed an offering of $2.6 billion in senior notes. Its subsidiary DISH DBS Corp. priced an offering of $1.25 billion aggregate principal amount of 5% senior notes due in 2017 and $1.35 billion aggregate principal amount of 6.25% senior notes due in 2023. The offering is expected to close on May 28.

In its Wednesday statement Fitch was doubtful that DISH’s plans to take over Sprint would result in viable competition for the “strong entrenched market participants” if the combined company could not offer a distinct service advantage. In addition, the “narrow” DISH product offering of video service only puts the company at a disadvantage compared to the broader offerings from its cable and telephone company competition, Fitch said.

On Tuesday, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded DISH DBS Corporation’s corporate family rating (CFR) to Ba3 from Ba2.

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The article Fitch: DISH Debt Offering Rated BB-, Outlook “Negative” originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Dan Radovsky has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Fitch Ratings has given DISH Network‘s recent proposed offering of $2.5 billion in senior secured notes a speculative investment grade of “BB-”. Fitch also gave a continuing “Negative” outlook for all of DISH’s debt ratings on Wednesday. The satellite TV provider had around $11.9 billion in debt at the end of the first quarter.

Fitch said Wednesday that it based its rating on both the company’s “inconsistent” operating results and on the increased debt DISH would need to take on in its $25.5 billion bid for Sprint Nextel. The Sprint bid would require DISH borrowing a further $9.3 billion on top of the $12 billion in cash and liquid securities it has already gathered for the proposed transaction, Fitch said.

The $2.5 billion DISH offering would be put in escrow and make up part of the Sprint transaction, if successful. If not, those notes would be redeemed using cash from the escrow account.

DISH announced this morning that it had placed an offering of $2.6 billion in senior notes. Its subsidiary DISH DBS Corp. priced an offering of $1.25 billion aggregate principal amount of 5% senior notes due in 2017 and $1.35 billion aggregate principal amount of 6.25% senior notes due in 2023. The offering is expected to close on May 28.

In its Wednesday statement Fitch was doubtful that DISH’s plans to take over Sprint would result in viable competition for the “strong entrenched market participants” if the combined company could not offer a distinct service advantage. In addition, the “narrow” DISH product offering of video service only puts the company at a disadvantage compared to the broader offerings from its cable and telephone company competition, Fitch said.

On Tuesday, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded DISH DBS Corporation’s corporate family rating (CFR) to Ba3 from Ba2.

link

The article Fitch: DISH Debt Offering Rated BB-, Outlook “Negative” originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Dan Radovsky has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

SoftBank recently laid out point-by-point why it thought its bid for Sprint Nextel was superior to the bid from DISH Network . For value, timing, leverage, structure, financing, and mobile expertise, according to SoftBank, it held the advantage.

Now, SoftBank is trying to ensure that DISH definitely has problems getting financial help from investment banks. According to the Financial Times, which cited two people in the know, SoftBank is threatening the chances of any DISH lender to get a piece of the Alibaba IPO anticipated by the beginning of 2014.

SoftBank holds one-third of Alibaba, the Chinese Internet commerce company, and its public offering is valued at $60 billion to $80 billion, according to FT. Reuters has reported that one Wall Street bank has already pulled out from a lending deal for DISH because it didn’t want to upset any chance of a role in the Alibaba IPO.

DISH has been trying to get into the wireless communications business and has been accumulating spectrum licenses from bankrupt satellite companies. Late last year, it made a counteroffer to Sprint’s bid to buy Clearwire .

It seems that the DISH offer was intended to gain enough control of Clearwire to thwart Sprint’s buyout attempt, and then to remove the reason for SoftBank’s interest in Clearwire — its large spectrum cache.

Late last week, DISH held a conference call for industry analysts and journalists to answer questions about its proposed transaction. Chairman and co-founder Charlie Ergen said one big advantage Sprint would get from selling to DISH would be its spectrum.

“SoftBank, on the other hand, only has cash, right. And if they bring cash to the United States, they don’t really enhance anybody, because ultimately, spectrum is what you need,” he said. “So AT&T with more cash doesn’t mean anything. AT&T with more spectrum is formidable.”

But cash is still important, and Charlie and company will still need to borrow $9 billion from somewhere to buy Sprint.

The article SoftBank Strong-Arms Potential DISH Lenders originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Dan Radovsky and The Motley Fool have no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don’t all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

SoftBank can check off one more item on its to-do list in its mission to acquire Sprint Nextel . On Thursday, the Japanese telecom announced the Securities and Exchange Commission gave its OK for Sprint to begin mailing proxy materials to shareholders regarding the upcoming vote on the transaction.

That vote will be held June 12 at a special shareholders’ meeting, and it goes without saying (but I am saying it anyway) that SoftBank will be encouraging Sprint investors to vote for the proposal.

But the SEC thumbs up was just a small barrier compared to what SoftBank will have to scramble over before it can close on the deal.

DISH Network announced two weeks ago that it, too, wanted to buy Sprint, offering $25.5 billion compared to the $20.1 billion SoftBank bid. SoftBank’s challenge will be to convince the Sprint shareholders that the DISH offer is less than what it seems.

That process began earlier this week when SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son held a press conference in Tokyo questioning the veracity of DISH’s claim that its offer would be worth $7 a share. “I would say the number is wrong. Totally wrong. It is incomplete and illusory,” Son said.

Son brought up other counters to the DISH bid including the claim that DISH did not have committed financing and its leverage would be twice that of SoftBank’s.

Son also scoffed at the satellite pay TV provider’s lack of wireless experience. When asked about what expertise DISH could bring to a partnership with Sprint, Son asked, “Do you want to attach a satellite dish to your smartphone?”

DISH’s reply
As expected, DISH was ready with a response, but it wasn’t one that defended its numbers. Instead, DISH filed a letter with the Federal Communications Commission repeating media accounts regarding a Department of Justice investigation of bribery charges against telecommunications equipment provider UTStarcom . The DISH filing says Masayoshi Son was chairman of the board of UTStarcom during part of the time in which the bribery was said to occur.

UTStarcom admitted to giving $7 million to Chinese government officials for sales contracts. That act was a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

“Dish believes that this information is relevant to the public interest analysis of the proposed transaction, and that it is incumbent upon the proposed transferee SoftBank to provide a full explanation of these matters,” the filing said.

A further mountain to climb for SoftBank is this: In January the DOJ, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security asked the FCC to hold off on evaluating the public merits of the transaction to give those law enforcement agencies time to thoroughly assess the national security implications of the merger.

So even though it got the SEC’s approval, SoftBank will still have to get through the gauntlet one step at a time.

A fresh idea for 2013
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The article SoftBank Jumps 1 Hurdle In Its Bid for Sprint originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Dan Radovsky has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Verizon may be on the verge of making Vodafone an offer it can’t refuse. Lowell McAdam, Verizon’s CEO, suggested at an investors’ meeting held earlier this week that the company might not distribute Verizon Wireless profits this year to its owners — itself and Vodafone.

It’s no secret that Verizon wants Vodafone’s 45% share of Verizon Wireless for itself. There have been recent reports that the American company is preparing an offer of $100 billion to buyout its U.K.-based partner’s stake. But The Wall Street Journal talked to people knowledgeable about the matter who believe Vodafone values its share at $130 billion.

Verizon may be thinking that if it turns off the dividend spigot, Vodafone would be forced to sell, perhaps at a better price. If Verizon does stop the flow of profits, it wouldn’t be the first time. From 2005 until the beginning of 2012, Verizon, with its controlling 55%, had paid out nothing — a point of contention between the companies.

Finally, though, the money started flowing into Vodafone — over $8 billion worth. So the thought of Vodafone selling off its finally profitable asset has been a controversial topic among investors. One hedge fund, a Vodafone shareholder, has said it would be “insane” for Vodafone to sell the one bright spot in its “collection of modest success and abject failures.”

Vodafone, then, could be in a difficult position. Even though it owns a valuable resource, it may feel forced to sell it off for less than it feels it’s worth. But if it continues to hold onto its share of Verizon Wireless without seeing a return this year — or indefinitely, if Verizon really feels like putting Vodafone on the rack — what good is that asset?

A fresh idea for 2013
The Motley Fool’s chief investment officer has selected his No. 1 stock for the year. Find out which stock it is in the brand-new free report: “The Motley Fool’s Top Stock for 2013.” Just click here to access the report and find out the name of this under-the-radar company.

The article A Verizon Ploy to Force Vodafone Sale of Verizon Wireless? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Dan Radovsky has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Vodafone. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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