Sprint appears to be moving ahead with a possible offer to buy T-Mobile USA from German operator Deutsche Telekom.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Sprint and 80-percent stakeholder Softbank have lined up at least a half dozen banks to provide financing for what could be a $20 billion deal.
The report goes on to state that Softbank CEO and Chairman of Spint, Masayoshi Son, was meeting with senior bank executives in New York.
Today’s news follows on last week’s report, also from the Wall Street Journal, which claimed Sprint was interested in pulling together a bid for T-Mobile.
Sprint’s main concern would be how U.S. regulators would receive such a deal. Last year, AT&T’s bid for T-Mobile was rejected by regulators on grounds that it was anti-competitive.
A possible deal to buy T-Mobile follows on the Sprint’s closing of its purchase of Clearwire, as well as its agreement be acquired by Japanese carrier SoftBank for nearly $22 billion.
T-Mobile, meanwhile, this year finished its acquisition of MetroPCS. Deutsche Telekom, which currently owns 67 percent of T-Mobile, has long been rumored to want out of the U.s. wireless market.
Today’s news sent shares of Sprint up nearly 4 percent to $9.57 in late morning trading.
Filed Under: Carriers
