DISHing out the dosh

BANKERS involved in mergers and acquisitions have been checking their phones more often than text-crazy teenagers recently, to keep up with a flurry of offers for American mobile-phone companies. On April 15th DISH Network, a satellite-TV operator, became the latest bidder to enter the fray when it launched a $25.5 billion offer for Sprint Nextel, the country’s third-largest wireless firm.

DISH is not the only suitor for Sprint. Last October Japan’s SoftBank offered to buy 70% of the wireless operator for just over $20 billion; and this week it boasted that its agreed deal promised “superior” benefits to DISH’s unsolicited one. Sprint, in turn, is seeking to take full control of Clearwire, another wireless company of which it already owns half. And T-Mobile USA, the fourth-biggest mobile operator, is pushing ahead with a plan to merge with the fifth-largest, MetroPCS.