Big news in the wireless space: The Wall Street Journal reports Sprint is working on a bid to purchase rival T-Mobile. Combining the two smaller carriers to compete with mammoth leaders Verizon Wireless and AT&T T -0.12% would whittle down US wireless competition to just three major networks.
The unanswered question is whether such a bid would make it past regulators. Two years ago, the Justice Department refused to let AT&T?s $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile go through.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Sprint?s interest in T-Mobile is driven by Masayoshi Son, the billionaire Japanese founder and CEO of Softbank, which owns more than 80% of Sprint stock. Son has been acquisition-happy recently. In addition to buying Sprint, Softbank made a $1.26 billion investment in mobile phone distributor Brightstar and grabbed a majority stake in Finnish game maker Supercell for $1.5 billion. Son?s net worth is over $17 billion, based largely on the 180% rise in Softbank?s stock since the beginning of 2013.
Meanwhile, Deustche Telekom owns about 67% of T-Mobile stock. It?s unclear if they would be interested in an unsolicited bid.
T-Mobile?s current market cap is just over $20 billion. The stock leapt up 8% just before close Friday on the news of a possible deal. Investors were also happy to see Sprint thinking about making an offer. Sprint stock closed up 3.44%. AT&T and Verizon were down slightly.
And Then There Were 3? Sprint Said To Be Prepping T-Mobile Bid - Forbes
The unanswered question is whether such a bid would make it past regulators. Two years ago, the Justice Department refused to let AT&T?s $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile go through.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Sprint?s interest in T-Mobile is driven by Masayoshi Son, the billionaire Japanese founder and CEO of Softbank, which owns more than 80% of Sprint stock. Son has been acquisition-happy recently. In addition to buying Sprint, Softbank made a $1.26 billion investment in mobile phone distributor Brightstar and grabbed a majority stake in Finnish game maker Supercell for $1.5 billion. Son?s net worth is over $17 billion, based largely on the 180% rise in Softbank?s stock since the beginning of 2013.
Meanwhile, Deustche Telekom owns about 67% of T-Mobile stock. It?s unclear if they would be interested in an unsolicited bid.
T-Mobile?s current market cap is just over $20 billion. The stock leapt up 8% just before close Friday on the news of a possible deal. Investors were also happy to see Sprint thinking about making an offer. Sprint stock closed up 3.44%. AT&T and Verizon were down slightly.
And Then There Were 3? Sprint Said To Be Prepping T-Mobile Bid - Forbes
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