Charging it will offer a "superior value for Sprint shareholders," Dish Network on Monday announced it was making a $25.5 billion bid for Sprint Nextel.

Dish is offering Sprint shareholders $17.3 billion in cash plus $8.2 billion in stock. Dish's bid of $7 a share is a 12.5% premium over Sprint's closing price on Friday. However, Monday morning Sprint's shares were up about 15% to $7.18 on the news. Dish's bid comes as Japan's SoftBank in October agreed to buy a 70% stake in Sprint.

"The Dish proposal clearly presents Sprint shareholders with a superior alternative to the pending SoftBank proposal," Charlie Ergen, Chairman of Dish, said in a statement. "Sprint shareholders will benefit from a higher price with more cash while also creating the opportunity to participate more meaningfully in a combined Dish/Sprint with a significantly enhanced strategic position and substantial synergies that are not attainable through the pending SoftBank proposal."

The move comes after the U.S. Department of Justice blocked AT&T's attempted $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile in 2011.

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