Sprint and T-Mobile End Merger Discussions<br />Mr. Claure of Sprint added in the statement, “We have agreed that it is best to move forward on our own.”<br />People briefed on the discussions, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly, said<br />that a deal always hinged on SoftBank’s comfort with taking a minority stake in the combined business.<br />The announcement represents a setback to Sprint, T-Mobile<br />and their majority shareholders — Sprint is owned by the Japanese technology giant SoftBank and T-Mobile by Deutsche Telekom of Germany — in their efforts to create a stronger third-place competitor in the American wireless market.<br />Sprint and T-Mobile said on Saturday that they had ended merger talks, marking the second time in three years<br />that the two failed to reach a deal to create a stronger competitor to Verizon and AT&T.<br />The final blow to the latest round of talks came Saturday night in Tokyo, when Tim Höttges, the chief executive of Deutsche<br />Telekom, met at the Tokyo home of SoftBank’s founder, Masayoshi Son, according to a person briefed on the matter.<br />Son and Mr. Claure ultimately rejected the plan because it did not give SoftBank<br />and Sprint enough control over the combined entity, people briefed on the discussions said.<br />“We have been clear all along that a deal with anyone will have to result in superior long-term value for T-Mobile’s shareholders compared to our outstanding stand-alone performance<br />and track record,” John Legere, T-Mobile’s chief executive, said in the statement.
