US telecommunications giants T-Mobile and Sprint have agreed to merge in a deal valued at nearly £19 billion.
The companies had previously sought a merger during President Obama’s administration, but regulators at that time blocked the transaction. The current administration has taken a more permissive stance toward such consolidations, prompting concerns from some critics about potential effects on competition.
After the merger, the combined company will serve roughly 130 million subscribers: about 72.6 million from T-Mobile and 54.6 million from Sprint.
John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile, said:
“I’m excited to announce that T-Mobile and Sprint have reached an agreement to come together to form a new company — a larger, stronger competitor that will be a force for positive change for all US consumers and businesses.”
The new, combined business will continue to operate under the T-Mobile brand and will approach the scale of the two largest US carriers, AT&T and Verizon.
The US mobile market will look like this after the merger:
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Verizon: 143.6 million subscribers
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AT&T: 136.5 million subscribers
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T-Mobile (combined): 130 million subscribers
Marcelo Claure, CEO of Sprint, added that the merger will generate jobs and support the US economy, noting that the combined company plans to invest approximately $40 billion (£29 billion) over the next three years.
Negotiations leading to the announcement involved T-Mobile’s majority shareholder Deutsche Telekom and SoftBank, which controls Sprint. Under the merger terms, Deutsche Telekom will own 42% of the combined company, SoftBank will hold 27%, and the remaining 31% will be publicly held.
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