Andre Yoskowitz
26 Dec 2013 21:00
According to reports, Japanese carrier Softbank, the parent of Sprint, is in the final stages of talks with T-Mobile USA parent Deutsche Telekom over acquiring the U.S.' fourth largest carrier.
The deal would be worth just over $19 billion and would be funded using shares of Sprint, say the sources. Softbank wants to purchase the majority of T-Mobile's shares, which trade publicly.
Deutsche Telekom is said to prefer a cash deal over a share swap, however, which could add time to the negotiations. Softbank has also spoken to numerous banks about funding for such a cash deal.
A merger of the two companies could possibly break the current U.S. duopoly of Verizon and AT&T, as a combined T-Mobile/Sprint/MetroPCS would have about 99 million subscribers. Both AT&T and Verizon have over 110 million subscribers each.