Sprint close to agreement to buy T-Mobile

Sprint is close to securing a deal to buy the US branch of T-Mobile for $40 a share, according to multiple reports.

The deal has been rumoured for months, with SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son vowing to launch a price war with larger competitors AT&T and Verizon Wireless if the deal is approved by US regulators.

SoftBank bought Sprint for $21.6 billion last summer and has since been rallying US customers against the relatively poor internet service they currently get.

The T-Mobile purchase would, according to Bloomberg reports, be roughly half stock and half cash and would leav Deutsche Telekom with about 15 percent of T-Mobile.

It’s not yet clearly who might actually run the combined company with the two parties still in discussions. However, T-Mobile’s current CEO, John Legere, looks a likely candidate after a successful two years at the helm.

Bloomberg also reports the deal will be announced next month.