About a week ago, an unverified report surfaced claiming that the rumored T-Mobile and Sprint merger was being called off. Now comes official word from both T-Mobile and Sprint that negotiations have permanently ended “as the companies were unable to find mutually agreeable terms.”
In a joint statement addressing the recent turn of events, T-Mobile CEO John Legere said that while the prospect of a merger remains compelling for a number of reasons, it wasn’t entirely clear that a merger would provide significant benefits to T-Mobile shareholders.
Echoing Legere’s remarks, Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure said:
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.
The corporate boilerplate aside, it appears that the main holdup in allowing the merger to go through centered on who would control the resulting entity.
The recent development brings an end to a saga that has existed in some form or another for nearly four years now. If you recall, rumblings that Sprint was interested in getting into bed with T-Mobile stretch all the way back to December 2013.
