Sprint Corp has reportedly lined up at least eight banks to finance its acquisition of T-Mobile US Inc, meaning the company is closer to a deal that would merge the third- and fourth-biggest mobile operators in the U.S., according to Reuters, citing people "familiar with the matter."
The debt package exceeds $40 billion and includes a bridge loan of approximately $20 billion from Japan's Softbank Corp to Sprint, along with a $20 million refinancing of T-Mobile's current debt.
Five global banks, including Citigroup Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, have all agreed to finance Sprint's proposal to purchase its rival.
Sprint has also tapped Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd, and Mizuho Financial Group Inc.
"The companies will seek to finalize details of the financing in the coming month so they could announce a merger around August, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is not public," Reuters said regarding the news.
T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom AG and Softbank have both reportedly agreed to broad terms of a deal, which says Sprint would pay approximately $40 per share for T-Mobile, valuing its rival at approximately $32 billion.
None of the banks and the mobile carriers have commented regarding the news yet.
Not everyone agrees that a merger should happen however.
"The public doesn't need fewer competitors and fewer choices, not when the wireless market already has so little competition," a statement from Free Press said, according to Reuters. "The public will get nothing good out of this deal."
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