T-Mobile and Dish Networks are negotiating a potential merger between the two companies, reports the Wall Street Journal. The companies have agreed to some of the broad strokes of combining, but not the details.
For example, the Journal’s sources say Dish CEO Charlie Ergen would become the combined company’s Chairman, while T-Mobile CEO John Legere would serve as CEO of the joined businesses. The financial aspects of the transaction have yet to be worked out.
T-Mobile’s valuation stands at about $31 billion and Dish’s is about $33 billion. The Journal expects a deal, should one be agreed upon, would be very large. T-Mobile is the country’s fourth-largest network operator, while Dish is the country’s second-largest satellite TV provider. Dish has acquired vast sums of spectrum over the years, including some in the recent AWS-3 auction, but has yet to put any of it to use.
T-Mobile could use those airwaves to expand its coverage and capacity. Dish’s Ergen has held merger talks with a handful of companies over the years, but none of the discussions resulted in an acquisition. The possible deal with T-Mobile mirrors that of AT&T’s take-over of DirecTV, which is close to being finalized.
Neither T-Mobile nor Dish commented on the Journal’s story.
