TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s SoftBank Corp said it agreed with Sprint Nextel Corp to raise its offer for the U.S. wireless carrier to $21.6 billion from a previous offer of $20.1 billion as it fights off a counter bid by rival Dish Network Corp.

SoftBank’s amended offer won key support from hedge fund Paulson & Co, the No. 2 Sprint shareholder and an early supporter of Dish’s bid. Paulson said it would vote all of its shares in favor of SoftBank’s improved offer.

TOKYO, May 21 (Reuters) – Sprint Nextel Corp said its
Japanese suitor SoftBank Corp granted it a waiver
allowing it to consider a $25.5 billion rival bid by Dish
Network Corp, as pressure mounts on SoftBank to sweeten
its offer for the No. 3 U.S. wireless carrier.

Sprint said its recommendation in favour of the SoftBank
agreement had not changed, although some major Sprint
shareholders including Paulson & Co and Omega Advisors have
publicly said the Dish offer looks better than SoftBank’s deal.

TOKYO/NEW YORK (Reuters) – SoftBank Corp President Masayoshi Son may get a frosty reception when he comes to the United States this week to meet Sprint Nextel Corp’s major shareholders, as he tries to drum up support for the Japanese company’s proposed takeover of the No. 3 U.S. wireless service provider.

SoftBank’s billionaire founder, who proposed a $20 billion deal for a 70 percent stake in the U.S. wireless carrier, said on Tuesday that he would discuss the deal with shareholders in a bid to fight off rival Dish Network, a U.S. satellite TV provider, which offered Sprint a $25.5 billion bid.

TOKYO/NEW YORK (Reuters) – SoftBank Corp (9984.T: Quote, Profile, Research) President Masayoshi Son came out swinging on Tuesday against Dish Network Corp’s (DISH.O: Quote, Profile, Research) rival bid for Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N: Quote, Profile, Research), saying the satellite TV company would cripple Sprint with debt and was ill-prepared to run a wireless service.

Billionaire Son said there would be no need for SoftBank to sweeten its bid and he dismissed Dish’s $25.5 billion offer as “incomplete and illusory.” He argued his $20.1 billion offer would ultimately be better value for Sprint shareholders.

TOKYO (Reuters) – SoftBank Corp said there is no need to improve its $20.1 billion bid for 70 percent of U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Nextel Corp, which has been challenged by a counter-offer from Dish Network Corp.

SoftBank’s billionaire founder and top executive Masayoshi Son, who had been tight-lipped on Dish’s $25.5 billion bid for Sprint since it emerged this month, told a briefing on SoftBank’s latest earnings it was not possible to make an apples-to-apples comparison of the two bids.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s All Nippon Airways (9202.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will conduct a test flight of Boeing Co’s (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) 787 Dreamliner on Sunday, as it prepares to bring back passengers on a plane that was grounded across the world following incidents of batteries overheating.

The test flight by ANA, the Dreamliner’s top customer, comes after U.S. and Japanese authorities gave approval for flights to resume and will be the first of some 230 flights the airline has planned before allowing the jet to carry passengers.

TOKYO, April 26 (Reuters) – Japan will give the green light
later on Friday for Boeing Co’s 787 Dreamliner to resume
flights, the transport minister said, allowing top customers
Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways to get the cutting-edge
jet back in the air.

Japan Airlines Co Ltd and local rival All Nippon
Airways account for almost half of the 50 Dreamliners
worldwide that have been grounded since mid-January following
two separate lithium-ion battery incidents in Boston and western
Japan.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Super Mario creator Nintendo Co Ltd forecast a return to the black after two years of losses and camera maker Canon Inc raised its profit forecast by nearly 10 percent as a weaker yen, spurred by aggressive deflation-fighting policies, bolstered the outlook of Japan’s tech companies.

The two companies, however, show no sign of reciprocating the government’s helping hand with fresh job-creating investment. Canon, still worried about a struggling global economy, pared its capital expenditure.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant halted cooling of a spent fuel pool at the site on Monday to remove two dead rats, the third time cooling equipment has gone offline in five weeks because of rodents.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) said it halted cooling of the No. 2 unit pool, which stores spent uranium fuel rods at the Fukushima Daiichi site, for a few hours to remove the rats and install a net to stop further such intrusions.

TOKYO/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Masayoshi Son, billionaire founder of Japanese mobile carrier SoftBank Corp, is expected to stay in the battle for U.S. wireless service provider Sprint Nextel Corp, even though he could profit handsomely by walking away.

While the intentions of Charlie Ergen, the chairman of Dish Network Corp, should be clear – after a bold $25.5 billion (16.5 billion pounds) counterbid for Sprint – not everyone is convinced the deal will go through.