It was rumored recently that Sprint is interested in acquiring T-Mobile, having Magenta’s user base and infrastructure onboard would allow Sprint to launch a much more effective competition against rivals Verizon and AT&T. While AT&T pursued its own buyout bid for T-Mobile, it could get through due to regulatory concerns. It remains to be seen how far Sprint is able to go in this rumored bid for T-Mobile, but apparently its Chairman, who also happens to be the CEO of Softbank which purchased Sprint, is meeting to banks to advise and finance the T-Mobile acquisition.
Masayoshi Son, the gentleman we’re talking about in this article, has discussed financing with banks like Mizuho, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase and Credit Suisse Group, people “familiar with the matter” tell Bloomberg. These are the very same financial institutions that advised and financed SoftBank’s buyout of Sprint. Apparently the chairman and CEO is looking to raise $20 billion, and take control of T-Mobile by paying cash for the 67 percent stake in Magenta that’s owned by Deutsche Telekom. According to the report, while Deutsche Telekom and Sprint haven’t sat down as yet, apparently the former is willing to sell its stake for around $16 billion. According to the sources, discussions with the banks are in initial stages, but so far it appears that financing is available for this deal.