--- description: Sprint has agreed on terms to acquire T-Mobile, potentially merging the third and fourth largest telecom companies, respectively. title: Reports: Sprint To Buy T-Mobile image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1dcee0cb399f76a8/698696473617607d7c90c77b/468896229.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Companies](/tag/companies/) ## Companies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Sprint Reportedly Set To Buy T-Mobile in Another Major Merger  by [Noah Rayman](/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 5, 2014 12:06 PM CUT  Billionaire Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Corp., speaks in front of a screen displaying the logo of Sprint Corp. during a news conference in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014. Billionaire Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Corp., speaks in front of a screen displaying the logo of Sprint Corp. during a news conference in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014.Bloomberg / Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Noah Rayman](/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 5, 2014 12:06 PM CUT In a deal that would combine the third and fourth largest wireless telephone companies respectively, Sprint is reportedly close [to acquiring T-Mobile](http://online.wsj.com/articles/sprint-t-mobile-generally-agree-on-merger-terms-1401919219 "undefined") in a deal that values T-Mobile at around $32 billion. The acquisition, which would need federal approval, may happen early this summer, according to the _Wall Street_ [_Journal_](http://online.wsj.com/articles/sprint-t-mobile-generally-agree-on-merger-terms-1401919219 "undefined"), which reported on the deal Wednesday night, citing people familiar with the matter. The New York _Times_ and Bloomberg also [reported](http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/06/04/sprint-and-t-mobile-agree-on-terms-of-32-billion-deal/?hp "undefined") the [story](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-04/sprint-t-mobile-said-near-accord-on-price-termination-fee.html "undefined") Wednesday. According to those reports, Sprint would pay around $40 a share for T-Mobile, a premium of 17 percent on Wednesday’s closing price. It would also owe T-Mobile about $1 billion if the deal falls through, meaning Sprint’s making a big bet that regulators will allow the merger to pass unimpeded. The Sprint/T-Mobile deal follows [AT&T’s recent move to acquire DirecTV](http://time.com/97045/att-directv-merger-talks/ "undefined"), which would reinforce AT&T’s position as the company’s second biggest wireless provider, following Verizon Wireless. Sprint and T-Mobile may in fact argue to regulators that joining forces is the only way to stay competitive with Verizon Wireless and AT&T in the long-term. \[[_WSJ_](http://online.wsj.com/articles/sprint-t-mobile-generally-agree-on-merger-terms-1401919219 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2826462/sprint-tmobile-merger/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2826462/sprint-tmobile-merger/"},"headline":"Sprint Reportedly Set To Buy T-Mobile in Another Major Merger","datePublished":"2014-06-05T12:06:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:14:02.044Z","description":"The third and fourth largest mobile networks are reportedly nearing a merger that would help them stay competitive against industry leaders Verizon Wireless and AT&T","url":"https://time.com/2826462/sprint-tmobile-merger/","keywords":["Companies","T-Mobile","Telecommunications","Verizon","Sprint"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1dcee0cb399f76a8/698696473617607d7c90c77b/468896229.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Noah Rayman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1dcee0cb399f76a8/698696473617607d7c90c77b/468896229.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son Attends Earnigns News Conference","caption":"SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son Attends Earnigns News Conference","creditText":"Bloomberg / Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/companies/","name":"Companies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2826462/sprint-tmobile-merger/","name":"Sprint Reportedly Set To Buy T-Mobile in Another Major Merger"}}]}] ```