Andre Yoskowitz
25 Feb 2012 18:28
Sprint has walked away from an acquisition of MetroPCS in the 11th hour, say sources speaking with Bloomberg.
The deal would have valued MetroPCS at $8 billion, but the final deal was rejected by Sprint's board of directors at the last minute. The company currently trades with a value of about $5 billion, so Sprint's offer would have been with a significant premium.
MetroPCS has 9.3 million subscribers and significant spectrum and certainly would have helped Sprint compete better with major CDMA player Verizon.
Sprint looked into purchasing T-Mobile USA last year, but the price was too high. AT&T eventually bid $39 billion for the company but was rejected by the FCC and US Department of Justice over anti-trust concerns.
Another potential option, says the report, is MetroPCS' rival Leap Wireless.