T-Mobile has received FCC approval for its US$26 billion acquisition of Sprint, pushing the deal closer to completion. FCC head Ajit Pai said he would support the merger after the two telecom companies agreed to a series of concessions designed to alleviate antitrust concerns, including a sale of Sprint-backed prepaid wireless business Boost Mobile and a commitment from the newly combined company to provide a 5G network spanning 97% of the country.
Announced in April 2018, the deal to combine T-Mobile and Sprint has received intense political backlash from members of Congress on both sides of the aisle. And it has yet to get approval from the US Justice Department, which needs to issue a final OK before it goes through. Stock in both companies rose after the FCC announcement, but then dipped later in the day after Bloomberg reported the Justice Department is leaning toward nixing the deal because of antitrust issues.
Shares of Sprint (NYSE: S) jumped almost 19% on Monday while T-Mobile shares (NASDAQ: TMUS) were up nearly 4%.
Source: https://pitchbook.com/newsletter/t-mobile-sprint-get-fcc-approval-for-merger