Boost founder says willing to pay up to $2 billion to buy brand from Sprint

By Sheila Dang

(Reuters) – Boost Mobile founder Peter Adderton is willing to pay up to $2 billion to buy back the prepaid wireless brand from Sprint Corp (N:), he told Reuters on Monday, a significant potential premium to what satellite TV provider Dish Network (O:) agreed to pay for Sprint’s entire prepaid wireless business.

U.S. regulators approved Sprint’s $26.5-billion merger with larger rival T-Mobile US Inc (O:) in July. As a concession to regulators, the companies agreed to sell Sprint’s prepaid wireless business, which includes the Boost and Virgin Mobile brands, to Dish for $1.4 billion, as well as sell some wireless spectrum, or airwaves that carry data, to Dish for $3.6 billion.

The merger still faces a lawsuit by state attorneys general that alleges the merger is harmful to consumers.

T-Mobile and Sprint are currently re-negotiating terms of their merger agreement, which had expired on Nov. 1, providing a window of opportunity to make the offer, Adderton said.

T-Mobile Chief Executive John Legere earlier this month declined to rule out requesting the $26 billion price be reduced as part of the negotiations.

Ever since the merger between T-Mobile and Sprint was announced last year, Adderton has been outspoken on Twitter that the combination would harm lower-income consumers who depend on prepaid phones, where users pay for phone service at the beginning of the month and are not required to pass a credit check.

Adderton has also questioned Dish’s commitment to serving Boost customers, as the satellite company has focused its priorities on building a next generation 5G wireless network.

Adderton originally founded Boost Mobile in his native Australia and sold its U.S. business to Nextel in 2004, which was later acquired by Sprint.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.