Business

SoftBank raises bid for Sprint to $21.6B

SoftBank agreed to raise its offer for Sprint Nextel by 7.5 percent to $21.6 billion, countering Dish Network’s unsolicited proposal of $25.5 billion for the wireless carrier.

SoftBank will pay $16.6 billion to Sprint shareholders and inject $5 billion of new capital into the target company for a 78 percent stake, the mobile-phone carrier said in a statement yesterday. That compares SoftBank’s October offer of $20.1 billion for a 70 percent stake.

Paulson & Co., Sprint’s second-largest shareholder, said it supports SoftBank’s new offer.