S SentinelOne Inc

By Drew FitzGerald and Dana Cimilluca 

The boards of Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc. have agreed to an all-stock merger that, if allowed by antitrust enforcers, would leave the U.S. wireless market dominated by three national players.

It is the third time in recent years that the two rivals have attempted the combination, which could be announced as soon as Sunday, according to people familiar with the matter. But the leaders of both companies are determined to close a deal, if only because their prospects going it alone grow dimmer by the year.

New technology, stiff competition from wireless rivals and an aging cellphone sector keep driving Sprint and T-Mobile into each other's arms. Both companies hope to squeeze billions in savings by uniting operations despite their owners' different management styles and a tough regulatory environment.

The all-stock deal would combine Sprint, which has a market value of $26 billion, with T-Mobile, which has a market value of $55 billion, based on Friday's closing prices. The two companies also have about $60 billion of combined debt.

Joining forces would create a wireless provider with nearly 100 million cellphone customers, second only in the U.S. to Verizon Communications Inc. The combined company would be controlled by T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom AG and run by T-Mobile CEO John Legere, the people said.

Write to Drew FitzGerald at andrew.fitzgerald@wsj.com and Dana Cimilluca at dana.cimilluca@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 29, 2018 12:13 ET (16:13 GMT)

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