T-Mobile has made some big decisions for the company. Earlier today, the company revealed that it plans to buy the wireless assets of regional operator, Shentel.
According to the report, this acquisition will include around 1.1 million mobile customers from the areas of Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The report also shares that the acquisition will cost a total of $1.95 billion.
Shentel has long been an affiliate of Sprint. Even though it operates its own wireless network and retail operation, its services rely on Sprint’s network. Since Sprint and Shentel signed an agreement in 1999 regarding acquisitions, they both decided that any company that acquires Sprint will also be able to acquire the wireless business of Shentel.
Last year, T-Mobile already revealed that it had plans to acquire Shentel’s wireless assets. Unfortunately at that time, the two companies could not agree on a price. This led the two companies to follow the terms of the affiliate agreement between Shentel and Sprint. They posed the question to three independent “valuation providers”, who appraised the business at around $2.1 billion. T-Mobile agreed to purchase the business at 90% of that price, which amounts to $1.95 billion in cash.
The transaction between the two companies is expected to close by the second quarter of 2021.