AT&T to Buy T-Mobile USA for $39 Billion

AT&T to Buy T-Mobile USA for $39 Billion

AT&T announced on Sunday that it has agreed to buy T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion in cash and stock, in one of the biggest mergers since the onset of the financial crisis.

The deal will dramatically bolster AT&T’s footprint in the country, adding an additional 46.5 million customers.

Under the terms of the deal, AT&T will pay $25 billion in cash and the rest in stock. Deutsche Telekom will in turn gain an 8 percent stake in AT&T and a seat on the American telecom giant’s board.

“This transaction represents a major commitment to strengthen and expand critical infrastructure for our nation’s future,” said Randall Stephenson, AT&T ’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.

AT&T’s bid will finally solve the problem facing T-Mobile USA, the smallest of the country’s four major cellphone service providers. Both companies operate on the same wireless standard, GSM. Through the deal, T-Mobile will finally gain a path for the next generation of cellphone data, known as 4G, by using AT&T’s forthcoming LTE standard.

AT&T was advised by Greenhill & Company, JPMorgan Chase and Evercore Partners, as well as the law firms Sullivan & Cromwell, Arnold & Porter, and Crowell & Moring.

Deutsche Telekom was advised by Morgan Stanley.

source: nytimes.com