By Nicola Leske
May 23 (Reuters) - Dish Network Corp has addedCanada's Scotiabank to the four banks it had already lined up tofinance its $25.5 billion bid for Sprint Nextel Corp,according to two people familiar with the matter.
Reuters reported on May 15 that Dish was working withBarclays Plc, Macquarie Group, Jefferies andthe Royal Bank of Canada to help finance around $9billion in debt needed for the offer but that it was stillfinalizing details.
A Dish spokesperson said on Thursday the satellite TVcompany run by billionaire founder Charlie Ergen had secured thefinancing necessary to finance its bid.
The sources declined to be identified because of thesensitive nature of the deal.
Sprint is also being pursued by Japan's SoftBank,which has resulted in a public battle between SoftBank'sPresident Masayoshi Son and Ergen for control of Sprint, afterDish offered to trump the Japanese firm's bid last month.
Earlier this week, Sprint said SoftBank granted it a waiverallowing it to consider Dish's bid and allow the rival bidderfull due diligence with Sprint.
SoftBank, which agreed last October to pay $20.1 billion fora 70 percent stake in Sprint, has said it was confident its bidwould prevail.
It also announced in a separate filing on Tuesday that itwould issue 400 billion yen ($3.9 billion) in bonds in June, thelargest issuance ever by a non-financial Japanese company, tohelp pay for the Sprint deal.
Barclays (BARC)