The prospect of the two companies coming together has been “compelling” for many reasons, including the value it would create for shareholders and the benefits it would bring consumers, said John Legere, president and chief executive officer of T-Mobile US Inc., in the statement.
T-Mobile US. Inc. and Sprint Corp. have abandoned merger talks after being “unable to find mutually agreeable terms”, the two companies said in a joint statement on Saturday.
SoftBank Group Corp. 9984, +0.79% which controls more than 80% of Sprint S, +3.73% has been in negotiations for months with T-Mobile’s TMUS, +1.05% parent Deutsche Telecom DTE, +1.31% about a tie-up of the two cellular providers.
“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”, said Legere.
“While we couldn’t reach an agreement to combine our companies, we certainly recognize the benefits of scale through a potential combination”, said Sprint President and CEO and SoftBank board member Marcelo Claure, in the statement. “However, we have agreed that it is best to move forward on our own.”
Sprint Chairman Masayoshi Son appeared to call off the talks on Tuesday, but then on Thursday, reports surfaced that the companies were trying to salvage a potential deal, news that boosted Sprint shares.
SoftBank has been concerned about having to give up control of Sprint, with other reports surfacing last week that the company was looking at a potential merger with Charter Communications Inc.
CHTR, -0.66%.
Speculation began to build in September over a potential deal between Sprint and T-Mobile after Bloomberg reported “informal contact” between the two companies last May.
The Wall Street Journal reported that tie-up talks finally came to an end after Sprint’s Son, Claure and Tim Höttges, CEO of T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom, dined at Son’s house in Tokyo to try to hammer out a deal, The Wall Street Journal reported.
