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 Sprints 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.
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