Sprint, T-Mobile in $26.5 bn deal to take on AT&T, Verizon Communications

T-Mobile US and Sprint agreed to combine in a $26.5 billion merger, creating a wireless giant to compete against industry leaders AT&T and Verizon Communications.

Deutsche Telekom AG, the Bonn, Germany-based company that controls T-Mobile, and SoftBank Group, the Tokyo-based owner of Sprint, agreed to a combination that values each Sprint share at 0.10256 of a T-Mobile share, the companies said in a statement Sunday. That ratio values Sprint at $6.62 a share based on T-Mobile’s Friday closing price of $64.52.

The new company will use the T-Mobile name, with T-Mobile’s John Legere as chief executive officer and Mike Sievert at chief