Bloomberg News is reporting that Sprint is pressing forward with plans to acquire T-Mobile, with a formal bid likely to be lobbed in June or July.
Bloomberg News is reporting that Sprint is pressing forward with plans to acquire T-Mobile $TMUS, with a formal bid likely to be lobbed in June or July.
This, in itself, it’s not particularly surprising. Rumors about this mega-deal have been swirling around for months, and the CEO of Sprint’s Japanese owners, Softbank’s Masayoshi Son, has been fairly candid about his desire to pull it off.
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The really interesting part, though is that Sprint/Softbank could tap the fourth-placed carrier’s unconventional CEO John Legere to run the combined organization. Bloomberg says he is the “leading candidate.” If true, it could be a shrewd move, because Legere’s antics and strategy have sent shockwaves through the mobile industry, and won T-Mobile a lot of customers.
Quartz has reached out to Legere for comment. The company reports earnings tomorrow.
There has been widespread skepticism about whether regulators would ever approve a deal that would lead to further consolidation in America’s wireless market. (AT&T $T’s planned takeover of T-Mobile was rejected in 2011). Softbank started lobbying regulators in Washington last month. Its message seems to be that combining the two carriers would create a more sustainable competitor to the big two, AT&T and Verizon $VZ. The presentation video is available here.
