T-Mobile says Sprint deal may close as early as first-quarter next year
FILE PHOTO: A smartphones with Sprint logo are seen in front of a screen projection of T-mobile logo, in this picture illustration taken April 30, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
(Reuters) - T-Mobile US Inc TMUS.N could close its acquisition of Sprint Corp (S.N) as early as the first quarter of next year, based on indications it is getting from regulators, Chief Financial Officer J. Braxton Carter said at an investor conference.
T-Mobile, majority owned by Deutsche Telekom AG (DTEGn.DE), agreed in April to buy Sprint in a $26 billion deal that is expected to close in the first half of 2019. The deal is currently under scrutiny by the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice.
“We are hopeful that we (will) get some early indications of where these regulatory agencies are at by the end of this year,” Carter told the Morgan Stanley TMT Conference in Barcelona.
“At this point, it’s more pointing to the second quarter as more probable (but) it could still be first quarter,” he said.
Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee and Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair
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