Sprint and T-Mobile Aiming to Reach Merger Deal Next Week

Earlier this month, reports suggested Sprint and T-Mobile had once again resumed merger talks, and now it appears the two U.S. carriers may be close to inking a deal.

According to Reuters, Sprint and T-Mobile have "made progress" negotiating merger terms and are aiming to complete deal talks as soon as next week.

T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom and Sprint parent company SoftBank are said to be discussing an agreement that would "dictate how they exercise voting control over the combined company."

This could allow Deutsche Telekom to consolidate the combined company on its books, even if it does not have a majority stake in the combined company, one of the sources added. Deutsche Telekom owns more than 63 percent of T-mobile, while SoftBank owns 84.7 percent of Sprint.

Previous merger talks between Sprint and T-Mobile failed after the two companies were unable to reach "mutually agreeable terms." Sprint parent company SoftBank was said to be unsatisfied with the deal because of ownership terms, with SoftBank concerned about losing control of the combined company after Deutsche Telekom requested a controlling stake.

If T-Mobile and Sprint are able to establish a satisfactory deal, the combined company would have more than 100 million customers.

Sources that spoke to Reuters said there is "no certainty" a deal will be reached, given the dissolution of the previous merger talks.

Tags: Sprint, T-Mobile

Top Rated Comments

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augustrushrox

15 months ago

Bad for consumer choice.

Rating: 18 Votes

MattMJB0188

15 months ago

I feel like this is just to "save Sprint" so they don't go bankrupt. T-Mobile is doing exceedingly well now. They don't need Sprint. Not to mention... that's just going to put a really bad taste in people's mouths. Sprint needs to die, period.

Rating: 7 Votes

Kpeterk2444

15 months ago

I think everyone is missing the point. Sprint has a lot of spectrum assets that can be very useful in deploying 5G networks and competing better with Verizon and AT&T. Regardless of what you think of the anticompetetive aspect, both T-Mobile and Sprint customers would benefit from this. T-Mobile's network would gain the use of extra spectrum for faster data speeds, etc. Sprint customers would benefit from better coverage and a company looking to expand its footprint to better compete in the marketplace.

Rating: 7 Votes

cmwade77

15 months ago

Why would this be bad for consumers. T mobile and Sprint have cheapest rates.

Because Sprint has the worst customer service of just about any company I have dealt with (United Airlines takes the cake for the absolute worst though) and it would reduce competition, which will result in them raising prices.

Rating: 6 Votes

cmwade77

15 months ago

I really hope this falls through and luckily, even if they can ink a deal, the regulators could still block it, here's hoping that they do. This is a bad idea all the way around.

Rating: 6 Votes