To say that Deutsche Telekom has had a rough couple of years trying to figure out what to do with its struggling subsidiary T-Mobile USA would be an understatement. After numerous a grueling merger attempt with AT&T that failed and rumors of a Sprint takeover, a deal was struck with the smaller US carrier MetroPCS. The merger was approved by the various regulatory committees in the US, Deutsche Telekom gave their approval, and yesterday MetroPCS shareholders gave their own final vote of approval.
A vote by MetroPCS shareholders was originally set to take place earlier this month, but after signs pointed to the deal not getting enough yes votes, Deutsche Telekom quickly modified their deal the day of the vote. The revised deal saw Deutsche Telekom reduce the amount of debt for the newly combined company and agreed to hold on to their shares for a minimum of 18 months after the deal is complete.
With MetroPCS shareholders giving their vote of approval, the merger is pretty much a done deal. Under the approved deal, the newly formed company will keep the T-Mobile name and branding and MetroPCS will have a 26 percent stake of the company. One of the problems T-Mobile USA had was its out of date infrastructure that prevented the company from competing with the other three major US carriers: Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint. By incorporating the better technologies that MetroPCS had built up, the hope is that this newly formed company will have what it needs to compete against the big three.
Sources: The Register, The Street
