T-Mobile and Sprint Merger Gets Green Light from Federal Judge

On Tuesday Sprint and T-Mobile shareholders had something to celebrate. A federal judge approved the merger of the two companies.

Manhattan federal Judge Victor Marrero rejected arguments from a coalition of states led by New York and California this week that the merger would hurt competition in the cellular industry and force consumers to pay higher prices.

In Marrero’s 173-page decision, the judge said he was not persuaded by the states’ concerns that Dish would not become a viable player in the market despite the satellite TV provider’s promise to build up its own wireless network.

Shares of Sprint exploded over 70% on the news while T-Mobile shares gained nearly 11%.

The news led Sprint shares to skyrocket nearly 74 percent to $8.35 when the market opened Tuesday morning, while T-Mobile stock opened almost 11 percent higher at $93.70.

John Legere, T-Mobile’s CEO tweeted, “The moment we’ve been waiting for – we WON in Court!!”

He added, “… The new Supercharged Un-carrier will provide benefits for ALL customers & drive competition! We can’t wait!”

New York Attorney General Letitia James wasn’t thrilled and stated, “From the start, this merger has been about massive corporate profits over all else, and despite the companies’ false claims, this deal will endanger wireless subscribers where it hurts most: their wallets.”

T-Mobile and Sprint could close the merger as soon as April 1, said Mike Sievert, T-Mobile’s president and chief operating officer. He will be replacing Legere as CEO on May 1st.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.