- Bloomberg has joined the WSJ in reporting Sprint (S +6.7%) is trying to obtain financing for a T-Mobile USA (TMUS +4.7%) bid from six banks, and provides additional details.
- Bloomberg's sources indicate SoftBank (OTCPK:SFTBF) CEO Masayoshi Son has personally talked with banks about obtaining ~$20B in financing. His goal: To buy Deutsche Telekom's (OTCQX:DTEGY) 67% stake in T-Mobile in an all-cash deal.
- At the same time, Sprint's management is said to be "reluctant" to deal with integrating Sprint and T-Mobile's incompatible 3G networks; Sprint uses the EV-DO air interface, while T-Mobile uses W-CDMA/HSPA. But with SoftBank owning 78% of Sprint, their objections may be rendered moot.
- Also: With regulatory approval of a Sprint/T-Mobile deal far from certain, Son reportedly wants to avoid agreeing to a large breakup fee. AT&T had to pay a $7B breakup fee to T-Mobile two years ago.
- Separately, T-Mobile has scheduled a Jan. 8 CES event where it will reveal the fourth part of its "un-carrier" strategy. Part one involved the elimination of phone subsidies and contracts in favor of monthly phone installment plans; part two involved the launch of T-Mobile's Jump smartphone upgrade plans; and part three brought cheap global data roaming and international talk/text plans.