Softbank Group Corp (OTC: SFTBF), the
parent company of telecom provider Sprint Corp (NYSE: S) has announced it is willing to cede control in order to make a deal with
T-Mobile US Inc (NASDAQ: TMUS) happen.
The deal has been long awaited, and now it appears things are moving in the right direction after Reuters reported Softbank is looking to
approach T-Mobile regarding a possible merger. Sources close to the matter are expecting the two parties to begin negotiations in
April.
Related Link: Sprint Stock Is Soaring Possible
Merger In The Works
The companies are currently blocked from talking to each other until April 1 due to the Federal Communications Commissions'
wireless spectrum auction, which concludes on March 30.
“Nobody is talking right now,” said T-Mobile CEO John Legere. “I’ve got news for you. I couldn’t be more excited about the
period that’s going to come up when this auction is over.”
Shares of Sprint soared over 4 percent on Friday when the
news broke. T-Mobile also spiked nearly 5 percent.
President Donald Trump’s election was a huge catalyst for Sprint, as the stock jumped 12 percent on Election Day on renewed
hopes of a potential telecom merger being pushed through with a more business friendly administration. Under former President
Barack Obama’s tenure, the deal was blocked citing anti-trust concerns.
Image Credit: By Chris Potter, stockmonkeys.com (Flickr) [CC BY
2.0], via Wikimedia
Commons
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