It was just a few weeks ago that the rumored merger of T-Mobile and Sprint was looking like a done deal, but now it’s not happening.
T-Mobile and Sprint have ended their merger discussions. The two carriers announced the news today, simultaneously confirming that they were in merger talks and explaining that they were unable to reach “mutually agreeable terms.”
T-Mobile CEO John Legere issued a statement explaining that while a merger with Sprint was compelling for many reasons, any deal would have to bring superior long-term value to T-Mobile shareholders compared to T-Mo’s own performance.
Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure gave a statement, too, saying that Sprint has “significant assets” and that it’s accelerating investments in its network to keep growing. Claure also said that Sprint believes “significant opportunities exist to establish strong partnerships across multiple industries.” New rumors suggest that Sprint parent company SoftBank is in talks with Charter Communications about a deal.
Here’s T-Mobile CEO John Legere’s full statement regarding today’s news:
“The prospect of combining with Sprint has been compelling for a variety of reasons, including the potential to create significant benefits for consumers and value for shareholders. However, we have been clear all along that a deal with anyone will have to result in superior long-term value for T-Mobile’s shareholders compared to our outstanding stand-alone performance and track record.
“Going forward, T-Mobile will continue disrupting this industry and bringing our proven Un-carrier strategy to more customers and new categories – ultimately redefining the mobile Internet as we know it. We’ve been out-growing this industry for the last 15 quarters, delivering outstanding value for shareholders, and driving significant change across wireless. We won’t stop now.”
And Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure’s full statement:
“While we couldn’t reach an agreement to combine our companies, we certainly recognize the benefits of scale through a potential combination. However, we have agreed that it is best to move forward on our own. We know we have significant assets, including our rich spectrum holdings, and are accelerating significant investments in our network to ensure our continued growth.
“As convergence in the connectivity marketplace continues, we believe significant opportunities exist to establish strong partnerships across multiple industries. We are determined to continue our efforts to change the wireless industry and compete fiercely. We look forward to continuing to take the fight to the duopoly and newly emerging competitors.”
It was just a month ago that rumors were saying that T-Mobile and Sprint were near an agreement and that the two companies were just hammering out the final details. More recently, though, SoftBank had some issues with the agreement, including the share exchange ratio and a desire to have CEO Masayoshi Son in a decision-making role for the combined T-Mobile-Sprint. T-Mo made a final offer to try and save the merger this week, but it looks like that offer wasn’t enough.
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