Word is Sprint is halting its bid or counter offer for MetroPCS. As they should, Sprint alrady has several cell providers using the Sprint network. The last thing Sprint needs is another prepaid provider clogging up the data coverage.
Sprint may have as much as three months to bid before MetroPCS investors vote on the T-Mobile deal, said the people. The added heft of MetroPCS may help the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier compete more effectively with market leaders Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc. (T) Chief Executive Officer Dan Hesse said last month that Sprint’s scale puts it at a disadvantage.
Representatives for Sprint and MetroPCS declined to comment.
MetroPCS, which is trading as a proxy for the new company until the deal with T-Mobile is completed, dropped 3.8 percent to close at $12.04 in New York. Sprint rose 1.8 percent to $5.04.
“By waiting, Sprint has been able to remind MetroPCS investors where their stock is headed without a Sprint counterbid,” said Walt Piecyk, an analyst with BTIG LLC in New York. “This could be very useful in future negotiations.”
First Run
This wouldn’t be Sprint’s first run at Richardson, Texas- based MetroPCS. In February, the carrier offered $5.15 in cash per share and a stock swap to take control of MetroPCS, a deal that valued the pay-as-you-go operator at about 30 percent more than its trading price, said people with knowledge of the situation. That transaction would have given MetroPCS shareholders a 30 percent stake in the combined company, the people said.
