Dish Network, T-Mobile up on report of merger talk; Sprint slips
Jun 4 2015, 10:40 ET | About: Sprint Corporation (S) | By: Jason Aycock, SA News Editor
Dish Network (DISH +5.9%) and T-Mobile (TMUS +4.6%) are on the rise this morning -- and Sprint (NYSE:S) is down 4.2% -- in the wake of reports that Dish and T-Mobile are talking merger.
It's not the first time the two have been linked by observers due to strategic sense: T-Mobile needs spectrum and Dish Network has it, and Dish needs growth and broadband service that T-Mobile could provide as AT&T and DirecTV near the closing of their merger. (Though the broadband isn't a perfect fit.)
T-Mobile has been amassing wireless spectrum, and while Dish's Charlie Ergen has been circumspect as recently as this week about what the company would do with it, one thing he's made clear is that the company didn't plan to start a wireless network from scratch.
A deal may take some time in coming, in part because of its size -- both companies have $30B-plus market caps -- and the fact that the FCC prohibits strategic talks during spectrum auctions, leaving a window before the broadcast incentive auction for discussions.
Sprint, meanwhile, is trading down on fears that it could be left out in the cold, having a potential merger with T-Mobile dematerialize last year, and subscriber momentum that is likely to see it passed by T-Mo to fall to the fourth-largest carrier in the U.S., with a cash burn problem to boot.
http://seekingalpha.com/news/256202...report-of-merger-talk-sprint-slips#email_link