All that’s left between the T-Mobile and MetroPCS merger is a shareholder’s vote on April 12.
Today, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States approved the deal. This was the final regulatory hurdle needed to be cleared. MetroPCS shareholders will vote next month.
Last week, the Federal Communications Commission approved the merger. Two weeks ago, the Department of Justice gave the green light to let a 30 day period of waiting expire.
It has been more than four months since T-Mobile announced its intentions to merge with MetroPCS. T-Mobile plans to issue a $1.5 billion cash payment as part of the deal, and give MetroPCS shareholders a 26 percent ownership in the new entity.
If approved, the transaction would combine T-Mobile with MetroPCS, which directly employs 3,700 people to service about 9.3 million customers. T-Mobile employs about 36,000 in the U.S., with 4,80 0people here in Washington.
T-Mobile is the country’s fourth largest wireless carrier, and it is looking to outgun Sprint, which is involved in its own merger efforts with Clearwire. Both T-Mobile and Clearwire are based in Bellevue, so these deals have special significance to the Seattle region.
Last month, T-Mobile reported lower fourth quarter revenue and profits, and gave a clear signal that it will be making additional cuts in attempt to to shore up its business.
Previously on GeekWire: T-Mobile fires back at AT&T with new ad: “What keeps AT&T up at night? Apparently us.”
