Sprint Corp. is reportedly looking to buy rival company T-Mobile U.S., Inc.
Unidentified sources familiar with the situation said Sprint met with banks last month to make debt arrangements for the offer, according to Bloomberg.
Joe Euteneuer, chief financial officer of Sprint, and Greg Block, the company's treasurer, reportedly met with six banks to ensure that, if and when Sprint decides to go through with the purchase, lenders would be ready with financing structures. Since the discussions are private, the people who revealed this information asked not to be named.
Masayoshi Son, chief executive officer of Softbank, is said to be preparing a formal bid in June or July, Bloomberg reported. Softbank owns almost 80 percent of Sprint. The possible combination of the third and fourth-largest wireless carriers in the U.S. has raised concern among regulators. However, Son is looking to convince the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission about the significance of the industry's long-term heath.
"Son doesn't give up," said Tomoaki Kawasaki, an analyst at Iwai Cosmo Holdings Inc. in Tokyo. "An acquisition of T-Mobile would increase Sprint's ability to compete in the U.S. by expanding scale and reducing costs."
The deal has not been finalized, but the companies are considering options for CEO if the purchase goes through. People who know about the companies' conversations said one of the options is T-Mobile CEO John Legere, who is possibly the most well-known CEO out of the four major carriers in the U.S. due to his strong presence in social media, Apple Insider reported.
News about Sprint's plan to buy T-Mobile first came out in December, when the deal was speculated to cost $20 billion. The price is over $1.5 billion less than Son's purchase of controlling interest of Sprint in July 2013. However, as part of the arrangement, T-Mobile has $8.7 billion in debt that would be transferred over.
