Sprint may issue new shares as part of Softbank deal-source

NEW YORK, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Softbank Corp could buy a roughly 70 percent stake in Sprint Nextel Corp through a combination of newly issued shares and a tender offer for existing shares, a source familiar with the situation said on Thursday.

The possibility of issuing new shares, which would dilute existing Sprint shareholders, is one of the options being discussed, said the source, requesting anonymity because details of these talks are not public.

Softbank is expected to take a stake that is currently expected to range between two-thirds to three-fourths of Sprint, the source said.

Although the talks are at an advanced stage, with an announcement expected in the next several days, the final structure has not yet been decided and could change, the source cautioned.

Sprint and Softbank could not be immediately reached for comment.

(Reporting by Martinne Geller and Soyoung Kim in New York, Editing by Paritosh Bansal; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

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Keywords: SPRINT SOFTBANK/STRUCTURE