SoftBank Group Corp. and Deutsche Telekom AG have reached a broad agreement to merge Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile U.S. Inc. and they plan to announce a merger agreement without any immediate asset divestitures.
The new market capitalization of the combined companies would be over $150 billion, using data from the second quarter.
Both Sprint and T-Mobile reportedly want to maintain as much of their owned spectrum and cost synergies before regulators begin seeking concessions, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The sources added that the two companies are working on a negotiating strategy to meet the demands of regulators concerning asset sales, which comprises the divestment of a portion of their spectrum licenses after a deal announcement.
SoftBank and Deutsche Telekom are reportedly discussing merging their respective telecom subsidiaries through a stock swap and are expected to start hammering out ownership ratios and other terms soon, according to the Oct. 14 report by The Nikkei.
An announcement of the deal is reportedly expected to happen in late October or early November.
The news comes after Reuters reported that the U.S. Department of Justice is expected to oppose the merger between the third- and fourth-largest U.S. wireless carriers.