T-Mobile Advances Toward Sprint Deal

T-Mobile US Inc. and its German owners are advancing toward a long-awaited telecommunications union that would value merger partner Sprint Corp. at about $24 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg reported. Under the terms being discussed, T-Mobile backer Deutsche Telekom AG would receive a 42% stake and 69% voting interest in the combined company, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. At $24 billion, the deal would value Sprint shares at about $6.10 apiece. That value may change depending on stock market fluctuations, since Sprint investors will get stock in the combined company at a fixed ratio. CNBC reported late Friday that the price could be about $6.50 a share, in line with Friday’s close. Sprint shares fell as low as $5.56 late Friday and then rebounded to $6 as investors speculated on the deal terms. The latest discussions follow years of will-they-won’t-they merger deliberations between Sprint and T-Mobile.