After months of rumors and speculation, T-Mobile and Sprint have finally acknowledged their merger talks and announced that those negotiations have come to an end.
T-Mobile and Sprint announced today that they're ending their merger discussions after failing to reach an agreement. The CEOs of the two carriers each offered a statement about the end of the talks, with T-Mobile CEO John Legere saying that while the merger was compelling for many reasons, any deal T-Mo signed would've needed to have superior long-term value for T-Mo shareholders.
Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure explained that while the two companies recognized the benefits of scale through a combination but ultimately decided to stay separate. Claure added that Sprint has significant assets, including spectrum, and are accelerating investments in its network to continue growth.
Here's the full statement on today's news from T-Mobile CEO John Legere:
“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 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."
Less than one month ago, it was looking like the T-Mobile-Sprint merger was going to happen, with rumors saying that talks between the companies were entering the final stretch. However, SoftBank recently decided that it was unhappy with the share exchange ratio of the deal, according to rumors, and it wanted CEO Masayoshi Son to have a decision-making role in the combined T-Mobile-Sprint deal.
This week it was rumored that T-Mobile was making a final offer to Sprint to save the merger, but it looks like that offer wasn't enough. Now T-Mobile and Sprint will go their separate ways, and it's rumored that SoftBank is now in talks with Charter Communications about forming a deal, so that company may not be done trying to strike a deal.
T-Mobile and Sprint end merger talks originally posted at http://phonedog.com
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