MetroPCS has rescheduled its shareholder vote on the proposed merger with T-Mobile USA. The meeting originally scheduled for today will take place on April 24 in order to give shareholders more time to consider the sweetened offer made this week by Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile USA’s parent company.
The postponement comes just a day after T-Mobile USA parent company Deutsche Telekom altered the final terms of the proposition in order to provide more value to MetroPCS shareholders and perhaps influence their vote.
The vote was originally scheduled for today, but has now been pushed back to April 24. MetroPCS claimed that the postponement was “mutually agreed upon by Deutsche Telekom and MetroPCS to allow MetroPCS stockholders additional time to, subject to approval by the MetroPCS board of directors, consider a proposal from Deutsche Telekom to revise the business combination agreement.”
The original proposal, which was announced last October, garnered considerable condemnation from investors and investor services that claimed the initial terms placed too much of a debt burden on the new entity. DT came back this week with revised terms, in what it called a “best and final offer to MetroPCS,” that reduced the debt burden on MetroPCS by trimming the amount DT shareholders will loan to the new entity by $3.8 billion, lowered the interest rate charged for the loan by 50 basis points and extended the lock-up period on shares of the combined operations held by DT to 18 months after closing. The new terms lower the amount of money being loaned to MetroPCS to $11.2 billion, which should lighten the debt load on the new operations, while the lock-up period was extended from the original 12 months.
T-Mobile USA offering iPhone
Meanwhile it’s business as usual for both T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS. At T-Mobile USA stores around the country, shoppers lined up early this morning to get the iPhone 5 for just $99 down. The carrier is offering Apple’s latest on an installment payment plan, whereby consumers effectively lease the phone from T-Mobile USA until they complete a series of $20 monthly payments.
T-Mobile USA’s new iPhone customers will have to pay for service in addition to their iPhone payments. The carrier’s new Simple Choice plan offers three options: 500 megabytes of high-speed data for $50 per month (with speeds throttling back to 2G speeds after 500 MB); 2.5 gigabytes for $60 per month with throtting; and unlimited “4G” data on either the carrier’s HSPA+ or expanding LTE network for $70 per month.
MetroPCS network upgrade
Meanwhile MetroPCS is moving forward with plans to invest in its network. The carrier is working with Cisco to upgrade to Internet protocal version 6 (IPv6). Cisco says the upgrade will boost the carrier’s ability to move voice, data and video Internet traffic.
