BELLEVUE, Wash., and OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – T-Mobile US and Sprint announced Sunday an all-stock transaction to merge the two wireless companies.
Based on closing share prices on Friday, the deal represents a total implied enterprise value of approximately US$59 billion for Sprint and approximately US$146 billion for the combined company, says the official, lengthy, press release.
The combined company will be named T-Mobile, and with the “combination of spectrum holdings, resulting network scale, and expected run rate cost synergies of US$6+ billion, representing a net present value (NPV) of US$43+ billion will supercharge T-Mobile’s Un-carrier strategy to disrupt the marketplace and lay the foundation for U.S. companies and innovators to lead in the 5G era,” reads the release.
The combined company (assuming regulators approve the massive deal) will have well over 100 million subscribers.
“The New T-Mobile will have the network capacity to rapidly create a nationwide 5G network with the breadth and depth needed to enable U.S. firms and entrepreneurs to continue to lead the world in the coming 5G era, as U.S. companies did in 4G. The new company will be able to light up a broad and deep 5G network faster than either company could separately. T-Mobile deployed nationwide LTE twice as fast as Verizon and three times faster than AT&T, and the combined company is positioned to do the same in 5G with deep spectrum assets and network capacity,” reads the release, which also promised it will deliver lower prices, better quality, unmatched value, and greater competition to U.S. consumers
The new company will be headquartered in Bellevue, with a second headquarters in Overland Park, while John Legere, current president and CEO of T-Mobile will serve as CEO while Mike Sievert, current COO of T-Mobile, will serve as president and COO of the combined company. The remaining members of the new management team will be selected from both companies during the closing period.
Tim Höttges, current T-Mobile US chairman of the board, will chair the new company and Masayoshi Son, current SoftBank Group chairman and CEO (and Sprint’s majority owner), and Marcelo Claure, current Sprint CEO, will serve on the board of the new company.
“Both Sprint and T-Mobile have similar DNA and have eliminated confusing rate plans, converging into one rate plan: unlimited,” Claure in the release. “We intend to bring this same competitive disruption as we look to build the world’s best 5G network that will make the U.S. a hotbed for innovation and will redefine the way consumers live and work across the U.S., including in rural America.”
Click here for the full hype, er, release.
