Sprint Corp. is ending its attempt to acquire T-Mobile US Inc., and Dan Hesse will no longer be CEO of the company, according to media reports out Tuesday.
The Wall Street Journal reports that "people familiar with the matter" say Sprint and its parent company SoftBank will not pursue the deal any further because it would too difficult to win approval from regulators.
Sprint is the No. 3 wireless carrier in the United States, T-Mobile is No. 4. A merger would have created a company more similar in size to Verizon Wireless and AT&T, the top two wireless carriers in the nation.
Federal Communications Commission officials have said they are happy with four major wireless carriers in the U.S.
Earlier this week French company Iliad announced a $15 million bid for T-Mobile. The announcement had nothing to do with Sprint's decision to withdraw from the deal, The Wall Street Journal reports.
