On July 26, 2019, the Department of Justice announced that terms had been reached between the DOJ, Sprint, T-Mobile, and DISH to approve the merger between Sprint and T-Mobile. Divestiture of assets and spectrum from the newly merged company (New T-Mobile) will be made to DISH, which has engaged in reciprocal commitments to build out a nationwide 5G network. For landowners, after two years since the original merger announcement, the wait is over because of a lawsuit brought by 13 states block the merger of the two companies as being anti-competitive.The judge ruled in favor of T-Mobile and Sprint and the merger is expected to occur by the end of February,
1. The primary concern by the DOJ was that the market was not as competitive with just three wireless providers. By requiring divestitures and commitments by DISH, the industry still has four national wireless providers
Generally, not much has changed. Even before the most recent agreement with DISH and the DOJ, most T-Mobile leases were considered safe. Now that the merger is approved and the overall agreement is clear, if anything, this helps secure T-Mobile leases even further.
For T-Mobile leases, nothing really changes. The buyers haven’t been discounting them due to the merger for the most part anyway. However, Sprint leases have definitely seen lower offers since the original merger announcement. Unfortunately, while the newest merger announcement may encourage buyout companies to pay slightly more, the values won’t return to their pre-merger amounts anytime soon. Even if DISH assumes a Sprint lease, buyers will still have concerns that buyers don’t know how long DISH will continue to lease the site.
If you have a T-Mobile (including Voicestream, Omnipoint, MetroPCS) or Sprint (including Clearwire and Nextel) lease or are approached by DISH, we can provide insight to the merger and how it impacts you. We won’t try to convince you to sell us your site nor will we pitch you services you don’t need. Unlike some of our competitors who are double-dipping by working for buyout companies and you at the same time, we don’t receive compensation from anyone other than you. And unlike our competitors who charge a success fee (typically 15% to 33% of any increase they get you for the entire term of your lease), we charge a flat fee that is clear up front. Whether you end up making $50,000 or $500,000 extra as a result of our involvement, you pay the same flat fee, typically far less than what you would pay as a success fee. If you prefer a success fee, please let us know and we will provide a quote on that basis.
