NEW YORK: Japan's SoftBank Group Corp is prepared to give up
control of Sprint Corp to Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile US Inc to clinch a
merger of the two U.S. wireless carriers, according to people familiar with the
matter.SoftBank has not yet approached Deutsche Telekom to discuss any deal
because the U.S. Federal Communications Commission has imposed strict
anti-collusion rules that ban discussions between rivals during an ongoing
auction of airwaves. After the auction ends in April, the two parties are
expected to begin negotiations, the sources told Reuters this week.
Two
and a half years ago, SoftBank abandoned talks to acquire T-Mobile for Sprint
amid opposition from U.S. antitrust regulators.
That
deal would have put SoftBank in control of the merged company, with Deutsche
Telekom becoming a minority shareholder. T-Mobile was worth around $30 billion
at the time, but its market value has since risen to more than $50 billion as
it overtook Sprint as the No. 3 wireless carrier by subscribers. Sprint's
market value is around $36 billion, roughly the same as in 2014.
Deutsche
Telekom Chief Executive Tim Hoettges has said in recent months that the German
company is no longer willing to part with T-Mobile, prompting SoftBank to
explore a new strategy towards a potential combination, the people said.
Deutsche Telekom owns about 65 percent of T-Mobile.
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