T-Mobile logo displayed on a laptop screen and a smartphone are seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on February 22, 2024.
Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images
T-Mobile announced Tuesday that it plans to acquire most of U.S. Cellular, including stores, some of the wireless operator’s spectrum and its customers, in a deal worth $4.4 billion. The deal includes cash and up to $2 billion of debt.
Up to $100 million of the deal’s cash portion depends on certain financial and operating metrics being met between its signing and closing.
Shares of U.S. Cellular jumped more than 10% in premarket trading. T-Mobile shares were flat.
T-Mobile will acquire about 30% of U.S. Cellular’s wireless spectrum as part of the deal. It plans to use that to improve coverage in rural areas while offering better connectivity to U.S. Cellular customers around the United States. The company said it will allow U.S. Cellular customers to keep their current plans or switch to a T-Mobile plan.
U.S. Cellular will retain 70% of its wireless spectrum and towers and will lease space on at least 2,100 additional towers to T-Mobile. The deal will also allow T-Mobile to sign new long-term leases on at least 2,015 U.S. Cellular-owned towers and extend existing leases on about 600 others.
This will give U.S. Cellular customers a “strong anchor tenant” for at least 15 years after the deal’s close, the company said.
The news follows T-Mobile’s $1.35 billion acquisition of Ka’ena, the parent company of Mint Mobile. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission approved that deal in April. T-Mobile merged with Sprint in 2020 in a deal worth $26 billion.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that T-Mobile and Verizon were in talks to “carve up” U.S. Cellular’s wireless spectrum, but said a deal with Verizon on a separate transaction could take longer or fall through.
The companies expect the deal to close in mid-2025.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the timing of an earlier Wall Street Journal report. A previous version misstated the month.