Share prices slump as Sprint picks new chief after T-Mobile takeover bid crumbles
Just hours after US telecoms giant T-Mobile rejected a $15.5bn (£9.2bn) takeover bid by French conglomerate Iliad, saying it was not high enough, rival US bidder Sprint reportedly dropped its own bid in the face of mounting regulatory resistance.
Sprint also announced a change of leadership following the failed bid, replacing long-serving chief executive Dan Hesse with Marcelo Claure.
Claure founded mobile phone distributor Brightstar, which was acquired last year by Sprint’s owner SoftBank for $1.26bn.
Sprint did not say if Hesse would leave the company.
On the failed takeover Sprint, the third largest US mobile operator, and T-Mobile have reportedly not ruled out consolidation in the future, but concluded that a deal is unlikely to be approved at this time. US regulators have insisted that they want to keep the number of major wireless carriers at four.
Shares in Sprint and T-Mobile slumped 19.6 per cent and seven per cent respectively in the wake of the news.