Sprint and T-Mobile are set to announce a $32 billion merger sometime this summer, the New York Times is reporting.
The Times says the talks are ongoing and could still fall through, but if finalized would see Sprint acquiring T-Mobile for a 40% over-market premium of $40 a share. T-Mobile’s current market cap is $27.5 billion.
Nearly two months ago, Spotify and Sprint announced a bundling deal — often considered the most viable way for subscription music streaming services to reach the scale required for them to become profitable — that would be included in their family plans. The deal was formally announced later in April, and coming together in a month following a “chance” meeting by the CEO of each company.
Sprint is controlled by Japanese investment firm Softbank, which is run by Masayoshi Son. About a year ago he made an audacious $8.5 billion bid for Universal Music Group which was rejected by French parent Vivendi.
T-Mobile is owned by Deutsche Telekom, which had plans four years ago to launch a rival to the iTunes Store. The venture never materialized, however. That same year, the company partnered with Katy Perry on a promotional campaign.
T-Mobile’s chief executive John J. Legere told shareholders, quoted by the Times from an earnings call, that “ultimately in the industry, it’s a consolidation game. That’s a matter of when and not if.”
