NEW YORK -- A planned $26 billion merger between American wireless carriers T-Mobile US and SoftBank Group-owned Sprint has run into difficulty securing government authorization, with the U.S. Department of Justice reportedly telling them that the megadeal is unlikely to win approval as is.
U.S. media reported Tuesday that the Justice Department has informed the nation's third- and fourth-biggest carriers of its stance. Sprint declined to comment to Nikkei on the reports.
T-Mobile US CEO John Legere was in Washington and has meetings later this week at the Federal Communications Commission, which is also reviewing the deal, according to Reuters.
The department had been determining whether the merger would pose a threat to competition in the U.S. mobile phone market.
Following the news, Sprint and T-Mobile shares dropped after the bell.
