In a move that isn’t going to come as much of a surprise after both companies confirmed the talks, both boards have approved a $1.5 billion dollar deal. The combined company will be called T-Mobile and run by newly installed T-Mobile Chief Executive John Legere. The deal itself will be structured as a “reverse merger,” meaning that MetroPCS will in effect take on its larger rival. Such a move allows T-Mobile to become a publicly traded company, allowing Deutsche Telekom to sell down its share over time to reduce its interest in the US market.
Deutsche Telekom shareholders are said to own 74%, with MetroPCS at 26% of the company with MetroPCS share holderss getting around $1.5 billion in case, or around $4 a share. The deal itself will create a bigger fourth-place carrier that controls around 12.9% of the US market. However, the combined companies would control around 30% of the prepaid market.
The deal itself may not face as much scrutiny as the proposed AT&T/T-Mobile merger given that the combined company won’t be targeting the same customers their larger rivals are going after.