It was reported for a very long time that Deutsche Telekom, the parent company of T-Mobile U.S., was trying to sell its 65 percent stake in the carrier because it wanted to exit the U.S. market. Softbank, Sprint’s parent company, was believed to be interested in acquiring the fourth largest mobile carrier in the country at that time in order to effectively compete against the likes of Verizon and AT&T. Talks were called off in 2014 when regulators opposed a merger but according to a new report, the Sprint and T-Mobile merger talks have resumed again and that this time it’s going to be an entirely different deal.
Back then, DT wanted to part with its stake in T-Mobile U.S. but it’s not interested in doing that anymore. T-Mobile has done well over the past few years so much so that it has taken the third position from Sprint. DT is very much committed to the U.S. market now while on the other hand, Sprint’s performance in recent years is troubling Softbank.
According to reports, Softbank is pitching the idea of selling its 83 percent stake in Sprint to Deutsche Telekom thus enabling the carriers to merge that way. With DT not willing to sell its stake in T-Mobile U.S. the only way both carriers can merge is if Softbank parts with its stake and if reports are to be believed, that’s precisely what it’s interested in doing.
If this ends up happening, it would also mean that DT would be in control of the resulting entity and thus T-Mobile’s management will be in control, that is provided that regulators don’t block the deal. However, it remains to be seen whether or not DT and Softbank reach an agreement this time around.