State attorney generals prepare lawsuit to stop Sprint and T-Mobile merger
T-Mobile CEO John Legere (L) and Sprint Executive Chairman Marcelo Claure (R) arrive to testify at the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights hearing on the proposed merger of T-Mobile and Sprint in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on June 27, 2018.
Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
A group of at least 10 state attorneys general are preparing on Tuesday to file a lawsuit to stop the $26 billion merger of Sprint and T-Mobile, a deal that would reduce the number of nationwide wireless carriers from four to three, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
New York's state attorney general is leading the lawsuit, one source said. New York's attorney general's office has announced a press conference for this afternoon.
The lawsuit is to be filed in New York, according to one source.
T-Mobile, whose parent company is Deutsche Telekom AG , and Sprint, which is controlled by Japans SoftBank Group Ltd, did not immediately comment. A spokeswoman for the New York attorney general declined to comment.
Sprint Chief Executive Marcelo Claure and his counterpart at T-Mobile, John Legere, met with the Justice Department on Monday, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The companies have offered to sell prepaid brand Boost Mobile, to reduce the combined company's market share in the prepaid wireless business. They have also indicated that they were considering divesting wireless spectrum.
The deal has won the backing of a majority of the Federal Communications Commission. The U.S. Justice Department's antitrust division staff has recommended that the agency block the deal, but no final decision has been made.
Read More
About Matt Short
No comments