John Legere, chief executive officer and president of T-Mobile US Inc., left, listens as Marcelo Claure, chief executive officer of Sprint Corp., speaks during an interview on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., on Monday, April 30, 2018.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
T-Mobile is considering a cut to its multibillion merger with Sprint, people familiar with the matter tells CNBC’s David Faber.
The Department of Justice announced earlier this year that it reached an agreement on the more than $26 billion merger between the two communications companies. Shares of T-Mobile and Sprint hit new all-time highs following the summertime annoucement, with Sprint rising to $8.06.
But Sprint’s stock price has since fallen under $6 as investors gradually grew confident that T-Mobile would ultimately have to curb its initial offering.
Per its agreement with the DOJ, Dish will pay $5 billion for a combination of Sprint’s assets, including its Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile and other prepaid phone businesses. T-Mobile, in turn, will make at least 20,000 cell sites and hundreds of retail stores available to the company. Dish will also be able to access T-Mobile’s network for seven years.
The deal cannot close, however, until the companies resolve an ongoing lawsuit from several state attorneys general, led by New York and California. The trial is slated to begin on Monday.