Sprint Corp.’s share price down, ends acquisition talks with T-Mobile US Inc., to replace its CEO

Sprint Corp. has decided to put an end to the negotiations over the acquisition of T-Mobile US Inc. According to a person familiar with the matter, regulatory concerns offset the potential benefits of the eventual deal that would have combined the third- and fourth-biggest wireless carriers in the U.S. into a new entity.

The regulators in the country have expressed their concern that such a merger would not only reduce the number of wireless carriers, but would also provide customers with fewer choices when it comes to services.

This decision of Sprint Corp. finalizes the talks of the acquisition that would have valued T-Mobile at 32 billion dollars. An eventual merger between the companies is considered to would have created a strong competitor on the market, which is currently dominated by Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. The billionaire Masayoshi Son, who is the owner of SoftBank Corp. that controls Sprint Corp. has been trying to create a worthy rival of the markets leaders for nine months but his efforts turned out to be in vain.

According to people with knowledge of the matter, Sprint Corp. has also decided to replace Mr. Dan Hesse, who is currently occupying the position of Chief Executive Officer of the company with Mr. Marcelo Claure. Mr. Marcelo Claure is a member of the companys board and also a founder of wireless distributor Brightstar.

According to two people close to the process, Sprint Corp. is to name Mr. Marcelo Claure as a successor of Chief Executive Officer Dan Hesse as soon as today. Mr. Hesse has taken over the helm in 2007.

Mr. Hesse refused to make any comments on the situation.

Sprint Corp. was 1.22% down to close at 7.28 dollars per share yesterday, marking a one-year change of +5.81%. According to the information published on CNN Money, the 19 analysts offering 12-month price forecasts for Sprint Corp. have a median target of 8.00, with a high estimate of 10.50 and a low estimate of 5.00. The median estimate represents a +9.89% increase from the last price of 7.28.