Last Republican AG drops out of lawsuit to block T-Mobile-Sprint deal

The only Republican attorney general suing to block the $26.5 billion merger between Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc. will drop his opposition to the union after agreeing to settle with the wireless carriers.

In a statement Monday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the agreement with Sprint (NYSE: S) and T-Mobile (Nasdaq: TMUS) that prohibits the companies from raising prices for Texans for five years and commits the merged company to build out a 5G network throughout Texas during the next six years.

Sprint and T-Mobile have negotiated several states out of the antitrust lawsuit. Colorado withdrew its objections after Dish Network Corp. (Nasdaq: DISH) agreed to keep jobs in the Denver area after acquiring Sprint’s prepaid mobile brands. The attorneys general for Mississippi and Florida cut a deal with the carriers after receiving guarantees. That makes eight states that support the merger.

The states — Washington is not involved but Oregon is — are trying to block the No. 3 and No. 4 wireless carriers from merging on antitrust grounds. A trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 9 between the 14 remaining states and the District of Columbia, which will argue that the deal will hurt consumers.

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2019/11/25/last-republican-ag-drops-out-of-lawsuit-to-block-t.html?ana=e_n_set2&j=90269801&t=Niche&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiT0RjM1pUWTJaVFUxTUdSbCIsInQiOiJuQnhPQW42ek5UWUVoNFd3N0lmWGdcL1JwRXd4Rzk0QVwvMTdJVFA5QzNBbml4TlQ4U3hQSDgyUGQwckZOczJSMVBsMzBcL1NSQVkzTjhha1BsWE5PUWZ1WnoxUUVcLzNYdnJHcHJ2SXlHQkhMN3NnMG1jcWNDRG9HXC9QdnBhdkNqVEh1In0%3D