According to sources close to the matter, who spoke to CNBC, T-Mobile and Sprint are in active talks regarding a stock-for-stock merger. If you feel like you’re having déjà vu, don’t worry, you’re not. Reports such as this have seen light before, but the reported deal fell through in mid-2014.
This time around, things seem serious again, but we could still be weeks away from any deal being struck. As reported, T-Mobile has yet to complete any due diligence on Sprint, and to further complicate the situation, heavy thought must be put into whether antitrust regulators would allow for the #3 and #4 ranked US carriers to merge.
Detailed inside of the report, given the all-stock nature of the deal, “Softbank would emerge as a large minority holder in any combination. While T-Mobile CEO John Legere is expected to lead any combination that results from a merger, [Softbank’s Masayoshi] Son has made it clear he wants a say in how the company is run.”
So, yeah, the main takeaway is that talks of a merger are happening, but it’s still possible that nothing happens. We’ll keep you posted as the story develops.
// CNBC