Exclusive: Case lawyer in US General Assembly lawsuit to stop Sprint and T-Mobile merger
A smartphone with Sprint logo is seen in front of a screen projection of the T-mobile logo, in this image illustration taken April 30, 2018. REUTERS / Dado Ruvic / Illustration
11. June 2019
By Diane Bartz and David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – At least 10 public prosecutors general plan to file a lawsuit as soon as Tuesday to stop the $ 26 billion merger with Sprint and T-Mobile, a deal that would Reduce the number of nationwide wireless operators to three from four, according to three sources familiar with the case.
New York State lawyer leads the case, said one source. New York's law firm has announced a press conference this afternoon.
A lawsuit is to be filed in New York, according to a source.
T-Mobile, whose parent company is Deutsche Telekom AG and Sprint, managed by Japan's SoftBank Group Ltd, has not immediately commented. A New York lawyer spokeswoman refused to comment.
Marcelo Claure, CEO of Sprint, and his counterpart at T-Mobile, John Legere, met the Ministry of Justice on Monday, according to a source familiar with the case. [1[ads1]9659004] The companies have offered to sell prepaid trademark Boost Mobile to reduce the overall company's market share in the prepaid wireless business. They also suggested that they considered disposing of the wireless spectrum.
The agreement has won the support of a majority of the Federal Communications Commission. The US Department of Justice's antitrust division staff has recommended that the agency block the deal, but no final decision has been made.
(Report by Diane Bartz, David Shepardson, Karen Freifeld)
