Sprint shares, hammered earlier this week after reports surfaced that merger talks with T-Mobile had broken off, were up more than 4% on Friday after CNBC said the two parties are working out their differences, with the parents of both set to meet this weekend.
Sprint shares rose more than 4% (27 cents each) to $6.70 per share in afternoon trading after CNBC’s David Faber said T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom was set to meet with Sprint owner Softbank over the weekend. The stock closed at $6.67 each on Nov. 3, up 3.7% or 24 cents per share. T-Mobile shares were up moderately, closing at $58.90 each, up 60 cents or 1% on Friday.
Earlier this week it appeared that talks had broken off amid reports that Softbank had balked at a deal that would give Deutsche Telekom clear control of the combined company. Sprint shares declined more than 9% on Oct. 30 on the news, while T-Mobile shares dipped nearly 5%.
According to CNBC, Sprint and T-Mobile are still apart on governance and pricing issues, but are willing to meet to iron out those differences.
A report in the Wall Street Journal Nov. 2 said Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure met with T-Mobile CEO John Legere on Wednesday, keeping the deal talks alive. The Journal said T-Mobile has made a revised offer to Sprint, and that a deal could be reached in weeks or not at all.
