Sprint and T-Mobile US are putting the finishing touches on a merger that’s likely to be announced when the wireless carriers report quarterly earnings at the end of October, according to people familiar with the matter.
Both sides are conducting final due diligence to decide on the exchange ratio that will determine Sprint’s valuation, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. Setting an exchange ratio for the all-stock deal will be one of the last steps to clinching the merger and hasn’t yet been finalized, the people said.
SoftBank Group Corp., the majority owner of the fourth-largest U.S. carrier, would accept a valuation around Sprint’s market price, people familiar with the matter said in September. The wireless carriers are pursuing the deal to bulk up against larger competitors AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. in a cutthroat market for mobile-phone customers.
The companies are continuing discussions around non-cash items, including the location of the combined entity’s headquarters and appointments to the executive management team, one of the people said.
Representatives for Sprint, T-Mobile, SoftBank and Deutsche Telekom AG, T-Mobile’s majority owner, declined to comment.
