T-Mobile, Sprint Close $31 Billion Mega-Deal

The transaction creates a new giant led by CEO Mike Sievert after John Legere handed over the reins.

T-Mobile U.S. and Sprint Corp. have closed their long-awaited merger that combines two of the largest U.S. wireless providers, the companies said Wednesday. The merger is worth more than $31 billion based on T-Mobile’s closing stock price on March 31.

The telecom giants earlier agreed to sell certain assets to Charlie Ergen's Dish Network in a deal valued at $5 billion that included Sprint’s prepaid business and some wireless spectrum.

Hollywood will be paying attention as consumers' mobile video and other entertainment consumption has grown in recent years. And the 5G wireless standard, with its promise of faster speeds and connectivity, has further implications for how consumers receive media and entertainment products and services and how sector companies innovate with video content, gaming offers and advertising.

The deal between the third- and fourth-largest U.S. carriers was designed to create a new behemoth that can better compete with wireless leaders AT&T and Verizon. T-Mobile is majority owned by Deutsche Telekom.

So far the two companies have followed a strategy more similar to that of Verizon, which has focused on providing a strong mobile network, than AT&T, which acquired Time Warner to become a vertically integrated content and distribution company.

The combined entity, the new T-Mobile, touts itself as poised for the 5G wireless network era. "The New T-Mobile’s commitment to delivering a transformative broad and deep nationwide 5G network is more important and more needed than ever and what we are building is mission-critical for consumers," said Mike Sievert, president and CEO of T-Mobile, who takes over the reins from John Legere.

"All of us at T-Mobile owe John (Legere) an incredible thank you for everything he’s done to get this company to where we are today. He has changed what it means to be a CEO," Sievert added.

T-Mobile said the merger will allow the telecom giant to invest around $40 billion in its expanded network and from the combined assets of T-Mobile and Sprint secure around $43 billion in synergies.