AT&T stands to lose $6 billion if T-Mobile acquisition falls through

We already know that AT&T will be forced to pay a hefty fee to T-Mobile and its parent company Deutsche Telekom if its proposed acquisition of the number four U.S. carrier falls through, but today we got a better idea of exactly how much AT&T will owe should the deal not go through. A Deutsche Telekom spokesperson confirmed today that if the AT&T-Mobile deal fails, AT&T will have to give up around $6 billion in total. How exactly does it all break down? According to sources speaking to Reuters, $3 billion of that would be in cold, hard cash, with $2 billion in spectrum and a roaming agreement valued at approximately $1 billion piled on top of it. It's worth noting, though, that it's not like DT is already planning on how to to use that cash and spectrum though, as CEO Rene Obermann said that he's feeling confident that the acquisition will be approved.

Obviously AT&T would like to avoid having to shell out $6 billion in cash and other benefits to T-Mobile, and I'm sure that they'll be more than happy to divest a few markets and make some other sacrifices to ensure that they'll be given the go-ahead to gobble up T-Mo. As we've seen in the past, though, they're going to face quite a bit of opposition along the way, both from the government and from regular folks like you and me. It's still to early to guarantee whether or not the acquisition will be approved, but either way, it's going to be entertaining, engaging, and interesting watching the approval process over the next year or so.

Via Reuters