MetroPCS board approves amended terms to T-Mobile deal, recommends stockholders agree

On the eve of the April 12th MetroPCS stockholder vote to see if the deal with T-Mobile would make it over the final hurdle, it was apparent that the company did not have the votes necessary for the deal to pass. The pre-paid carrier's largest shareholder, Paulson Capital, had already announced that it was going to vote against the merger and a number of shareholder service firms advised holders to vote down the deal. So Deutsche Telekom, as T-Mobile's German parent, scrambled to increase the value of the transaction.

By cutting the remaining company's debt owed to the German telco by $3.8 billion, and cutting the interest rate on the debt by 50 basis points, it looked like the deal could be salvaged. One last change was made and it extended Deutsche Telekom's lock up period by 12 months to 18 months, That means that the German telecommunications firm cannot sell even one share of its 74% stake in the company for a year and a half after the transaction closes.

All of the changes added $3 to the equity value of the deal for T-Mobile and increased the terms of the deal by 38% since it was first announced last October 3rd. With the board agreeing to the deal, the next and last step is for the MetroPCS stockholders to vote on April 24th. Paulson now says that it will vote in favor of the deal. With the largest stockholder voting "Aye", and the company's board telling stockholders to vote likewise, it would take some amazing bid out of left field to scuttle this deal. And with Charles Ergen busy with his $25 billion bid to buy Sprint, that is one name out of the picture.

source: MetroPCS