Sprint and T-Mobile to Merge, in Bid to Remake Wireless Market - The New York Times

Also see T-Mobile-Sprint Merger Would Give Japan’s SoftBank Bigger Foothold in U.S. (NYT)

"Under the terms of the deal — the companies described it as a merger but T-Mobile would effectively be buying Sprint for about $26.5 billion — T-Mobile’s controlling shareholder, Deutsche Telekom, would own 42 percent of the combined company. Mr. Claure would join its board. SoftBank of Japan, which controls Sprint and whose founder, Masayoshi Son, has long dreamed of merging the two carriers, would own 27 percent. Public shareholders would own the remainder.

Putting together the country’s third- and fourth-largest mobile service providers would be one of the most significant consolidations in the American wireless market in years. A combined T-Mobile and Sprint, with almost 100 million retail subscribers as of Dec. 31, would put it ahead of AT&T, with 93.6 million, and not far behind Verizon’s 116.3 million. (Or, as the colorful Mr. Legere put it, the transaction would help it better compete against the companies that he has previously referred to as “dumb and dumber.”)"

Sprint and T-Mobile to Merge, in Bid to Remake Wireless Market - The New York Times