Japanese internet and telecoms giant SoftBank is reportedly planning to put an end to merger negotiations between its Sprint subsidiary and T-Mobile US, after it failed to reach an agreement with Deutsche Telekom over the ownership of combined equity.

As reported by Nikkei, citing a source familiar with the situation, Deutsche Telekom – which owns a 66 per cent majority of T-Mobile US – had insisted on owning a controlling stake in the merged company. However, this did not sit well with all of SoftBank’s board members.

Last month, it had seemed that the merger was heading toward completion when the two companies formed an agreement under ‘tentative terms’.

Sprint is currently the US’s fourth largest wireless carrier, while T-Mobile sits in third place, behind the mobile network duopoly that is Verizon and AT&T. Even with completion of the merger, the company would remain behind the big two – though would be a lot closer.

SoftBank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son previously withdraw an attempt to purchase T-Mobile back in 2014, amid US regulator customer concerns. A completion of the takeover would have put SoftBank in control, and Deutsche Telekom as a minority shareholder.

Join us at the 2017 Effective Mobile Marketing Awards Ceremony, taking place in London on Thursday 16 November, to mix with the industrys best and brightest, and raise a glass to the years best campaigns and solutions. To find out more, and to book your place, click here.