In a joint statement Saturday, both companies says they were «unable to find mutually agreeable terms» to a deal.
Mobile companies Sprint and T-Mobile have officially ended merger plans, announcing jointly Saturday that both «companies were unable to find mutually agreeable terms» for a deal.
The two mobile companies have been dancing around a possible merger for years. But Sprint stock stumbled Monday after a news report that its parent company, the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, called off talks with T-Mobile about the possible merger.
That news was confirmed Saturday with a statement posted on the T-Mobile website .
“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,» John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile US said in the statement. «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.»
Marcelo Claure, Sprint President and CEO added in the 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.»
T-Mobile (70 million subscribers) and Sprint (54 million subscribers) are the nation’s third- and fourth-largest wireless carriers, respectively. The merger would have create a bigger competitor to industry leaders AT&T, which has 135.7 million and Verizon, with 114.5 million.
In 2014, the nation’s No. 3 and No. 4 wireless providers considered joining forces but eventually called off merger talks because it was believed the U. S. regulatory hurdles under the Obama administration were too steep.
In December, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son met at Trump Tower with then-President-elect Donald Trump, rekindling speculation that SoftBank would renew merger efforts under a Republican administration.
