According to the report, final details still need to be ironed out. Reportedly, SoftBank, Sprint’s Japanese parent company, is seeking to buy more than 50 percent of T-Mobile USA’s shares from its German parent company, Deutsche Telekom. The German telecommunications giant currently owns a 67 percent majority stake. In order to purchase the 50 percent stake, Nikkei reports that SoftBank will use cash and stock swaps in order to come up with the $16 billion.
While both SoftBank and T-Mobile have remained tight-lipped in regards to a potential merger, there have been several reports since December of last year. Last month’s report alleged that SoftBank would purchase T-Mobile for $32 billion, with the Japanese telecoms giant also taking on T-Mobile’s debts, which total around $15 billion.
That report also stated that the merger would be announced sometime this month, and with almost half of July now behind us, there’s still time for an announcement.