T-Mobile and Sprint Officially End Merger Talks
Nov 4, 2017, 12:54 PM by Eric M. Zeman
T-Mobile and Sprint today said they have ceased talks to merge into a single entity. The companies said they could not find mutually agreement terms. T-Mobile and Sprint have flirted with the idea of merging since 2014. Talks ramped up again earlier this year, but it appears the two companies weren't able to find a deal that worked for both organizations. "The prospect of combining with Sprint has been compelling for a variety of reasons," said T-Mobile CEO John Legere. "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." T-Mobile and Sprint have vast spectrum resources, but combining them would have been difficult. Moreover, T-Mobile is worth twice as much as Sprint from a market capitalization perspective and that threw a wrench in how the merged company would be led. Marcelo Claure, Sprint's CEO, said, "While we couldn’t reach an agreement to combine our companies, we certainly recognize the benefits of scale through a potential combination. 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. We look forward to continuing to take the fight to the duopoly and newly emerging competitors." AT&T and Verizon Wireless, the two industry leaders, each have about twice as many customers as both T-Mobile and Sprint.
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