Sprint close to agreeing on terms to buy T-Mobile: report

04/06/2014 - 23:47

(Reuters) - Sprint Corp is closing in on an agreement to pay $40 a share to buy T-Mobile US Inc , Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, drawing the two companies toward a deal to combine the country's third- and fourth-largest telecoms carriers.

The price reportedly under discussion represents about a 17 percent premium to T-Mobile's Wednesday close and values the No. 4 carrier at more than $32 billion.

Under a proposed agreement, Sprint will offer about 50 percent stock and 50 percent cash for T-Mobile, leaving parent Deutsche Telekom AG with about a 15 percent stake in the combined company, Bloomberg cited people with knowledge of the matter as saying.

A deal could be announced as soon as July, Bloomberg said.

Softbank Corp <9984.T> owns a majority of Sprint, while Deutsche Telekom owns 67 percent of T-Mobile.

Softbank Chairman Masayoshi Son has long been eager to buy T-Mobile and merge it with Sprint, creating a carrier with the resources to upgrade its network and better compete with market leaders AT&T Inc and Verizon Wireless .

An exit from the U.S. would allow Deutsche Telekom to beef up its operations across Eastern Europe.

But the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and Justice Department have raised concerns about such a tie-up, revolving around the risk that it could raise prices for consumers. U.S. regulators rejected AT&T's $39 billion takeover bid for T-Mobile US in 2011.

Sprint, T-Mobile, Softbank and Deutsche Telekom were not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz in Washington, Marina Lopes in New York, and the San Francisco newsroom; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)