$1.2B deal, brokered by SoftBank and friends, should take the financial pressure off Sprint somewhat.

Dan Jones, Mobile Editor

November 23, 2015

2 Min Read
Sprint to Get $1.2B From New Leasing Venture

Sprint got financial relief Friday in the form of a commitment for a $1.2 billion loan from a new device reseller formed by Sprint's parent, SoftBank, and other investors.

Mobile Leasing Solutions, LLC, is the new entity, backed by SoftBank Corp. and other equity investors who have secured financing from leading banks, on better terms than going to the debt market, Sprint says. Sprint is selling the operation $1.3 billion of leased device assets, in return for a total of $1.2 billion in financing when the deal closes, which is expected in December.

The agreement will get the leasing costs off Sprint's books and help improve its overall liquidity, Sprint said in a statement. The deal will not be a one-off; the company can repeat such agreements quarterly, new Sprint CFO Tarek Robbiati said in an investor call on Friday.

For more on mobile, visit the dedicated section here on Light Reading.

The deal keeps it all in the Sprint extended family. Sprint CEO Marcello Claure's former company Brightstar Corp. , which is part owned by SoftBank, helped to set up the operation and will provide tracking for the used, off-lease devices that the program generates.

The deal should help ease the financial pressure on Sprint somewhat. The company has said that it needs to reduce its overall expenses by $2 billion by the end of fiscal 2016, which is expected to result in thousands of job cuts. (See Sprint to Take $2B Shave, Sprint Undercuts Rivals With Half-Price Offers, Should CEO Pay Be Part of Sprint's $2B Shave? and Sprint, Verizon Face Reorganization, Job Cuts.)

— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Dan Jones

Mobile Editor

Dan is to hats what Will.I.Am is to ridiculous eyewear. Fedora, trilby, tam-o-shanter -- all have graced the Jones pate during his career as the go-to purveyor of mobile essentials.

But hey, Dan is so much more than 4G maps and state-of-the-art headgear. Before joining the Light Reading team in 2002 he was an award-winning cult hit on Broadway (with four 'Toni' awards, two 'Emma' gongs and a 'Brian' to his name) with his one-man show, "Dan Sings the Show Tunes."

His perfectly crafted blogs, falling under the "Jonestown" banner, have been compared to the works of Chekhov. But only by Dan.

He lives in Brooklyn with cats.

Subscribe and receive the latest news from the industry.
Join 62,000+ members. Yes it's completely free.

You May Also Like