v3.20.4
Business Combination
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
Business Combinations [Abstract]  
Business Combination
Note 2 – Business Combination

Business Combination Agreement and Amendments

On April 29, 2018, we entered into a Business Combination Agreement for the Merger. The Business Combination Agreement was subsequently amended to provide that, following the closing of the Merger and the other transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement (collectively, the “Transactions”), SoftBank Group Corp. (“SoftBank”) would indemnify us against certain specified matters and the loss of value arising out of, or resulting from, cessation of access to spectrum under certain circumstances and subject to certain limitations and qualifications.

On February 20, 2020, T-Mobile, SoftBank and Deutsche Telekom AG (“DT”) entered into a letter agreement (the “Letter Agreement”). Pursuant to the Letter Agreement, SoftBank agreed to cause its applicable affiliates to surrender to T-Mobile, for no additional consideration, an aggregate of 48,751,557 shares of T-Mobile common stock (such number of shares, the “SoftBank Specified Shares Amount”), effective immediately following the Effective Time (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement), making SoftBank’s exchange ratio 11.31 shares of Sprint common stock for each share of T-Mobile common stock. This resulted in an effective exchange ratio of approximately 11.00 shares of Sprint common stock for each share of T-Mobile common stock immediately following the closing of the Merger, an increase from the originally agreed 9.75 shares. Sprint stockholders other than SoftBank received the original fixed exchange ratio of 0.10256 shares of T-Mobile common stock for each share of Sprint common stock, or the equivalent of approximately 9.75 shares of Sprint common stock for each share of T-Mobile common stock.

The Letter Agreement requires T-Mobile to issue to SoftBank 48,751,557 shares of T-Mobile common stock, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Letter Agreement, for no additional consideration, if certain conditions are met. The
issuance of these shares is contingent on the trailing 45-day volume-weighted average price per share of T-Mobile common stock on the NASDAQ Global Select Market being equal to or greater than $150.00, at any time during the period commencing on April 1, 2022 and ending on December 31, 2025. If the threshold price is not met, then none of the SoftBank Specified Shares Amount will be issued.

Closing of Sprint Merger

On April 1, 2020, we completed the Merger, and as a result, Sprint and its subsidiaries became wholly owned consolidated subsidiaries of T-Mobile. Sprint was the fourth-largest telecommunications company in the U.S. offering a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communication products and services. As a combined company, we expect to be able to rapidly launch a broad and deep nationwide 5G network, accelerate innovation, increase competition in the U.S. wireless, video and broadband industries and achieve significant synergies and cost reductions by eliminating redundancies within the combined network as well as other business processes and operations. We combined the Sprint and T-Mobile operations under the T-Mobile brand nationwide on August 2, 2020.

Upon completion of the Merger, each share of Sprint common stock was exchanged for 0.10256 shares of T-Mobile common stock, or 9.75 shares of Sprint common stock for each share of T-Mobile common stock. After adjustments, including the holdback of the SoftBank Specified Shares Amount and fractional shares, we issued 373,396,310 shares of T-Mobile common stock to Sprint stockholders. The fair value of the T-Mobile common stock provided in exchange for Sprint common stock was approximately $31.3 billion.

Additional components of consideration included the repayment of certain of Sprint’s debt, replacement equity awards attributable to pre-combination services, contingent consideration and a cash payment received for certain reimbursed Merger expenses.

Immediately following the closing of the Merger and the surrender of the SoftBank Specified Shares Amount, pursuant to the Letter Agreement described above, DT and SoftBank held, directly or indirectly, approximately 43.6% and 24.7%, respectively, of the outstanding T-Mobile common stock, with the remaining approximately 31.7% of the outstanding T-Mobile common stock held by other stockholders.

Consideration Transferred

The acquisition-date fair value of consideration transferred in the Merger totaled $40.8 billion, comprised of the following:
(in millions)April 1, 2020
Fair value of T-Mobile common stock issued to Sprint stockholders (1)
$31,328 
Fair value of T-Mobile replacement equity awards attributable to pre-combination service (2)
323 
Repayment of Sprint’s debt (including accrued interest and prepayment penalties) (3)
7,396 
Value of contingent consideration (4)
1,882 
Payment received from selling stockholder (5)
(102)
Total consideration exchanged$40,827 

(1) Represents the fair value of T-Mobile common stock issued to Sprint stockholders pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, less shares surrendered by SoftBank pursuant to the Letter Agreement. The fair value is based on 373,396,310 shares of Sprint common stock issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2020, an exchange ratio of 0.10256 shares of T-Mobile common stock per share of Sprint common stock, less 48,751,557 T-Mobile shares surrendered by SoftBank which are treated as contingent consideration, and the closing price per share of T-Mobile common stock on NASDAQ on March 31, 2020, of $83.90, as shares were transferred to Sprint stockholders prior to the opening of markets on April 1, 2020.
(2) Equity-based awards held by Sprint employees prior to the acquisition date have been replaced with T-Mobile equity-based awards. The portion of the equity-based awards that relates to services performed by the employee prior to the acquisition date is included within consideration transferred, and includes stock options, restricted stock units and performance-based restricted stock units.
(3) Represents the cash consideration paid concurrent with the close of the Merger to retire certain Sprint debt, as required by change in control provisions of the debt, plus interest and prepayment penalties.
(4) Represents the fair value of the SoftBank Specified Shares Amount contingent consideration that may be issued as set forth in the Letter Agreement.
(5) Represents receipt of a cash payment from SoftBank for certain expenses associated with the Merger and is presented in Cash paid for acquisition of companies, net of cash acquired within our Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.

The SoftBank Specified Shares Amount was determined to be contingent consideration with an acquisition-date fair value of $1.9 billion. We estimated the fair value using the income approach, a probability-weighted discounted cash flow model, whereby a Monte Carlo simulation method estimated the probability of different outcomes as the likelihood of achieving the 45-day volume-weighted average price threshold is not easily predicted. This fair value measurement is based on significant inputs not observable in the market and, therefore, represents a Level 3 measurement as defined in ASC 820. The key
assumptions in applying the income approach include estimated future share-price volatility, which was based on historical market trends and estimated future performance of T-Mobile.

The maximum amount of contingent consideration that could be issued to SoftBank has an estimated value of $7.3 billion, based on SoftBank Specified Shares Amount of 48,751,557 multiplied by the defined volume-weighted average price per share of $150.00. The contingent consideration that could be delivered to SoftBank is classified within equity and is not subject to remeasurement.

Fair Value of Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed

We accounted for the Merger as a business combination. The identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed of Sprint were recorded at their estimated fair values as of the acquisition date and consolidated with those of T-Mobile. Assigning fair market values to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the date of an acquisition requires the use of significant judgment regarding estimates and assumptions. For the estimated fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed, we used the cost, income and market approaches, including market participant assumptions.

The following table summarizes the estimated fair values for each major class of assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the acquisition date. We retained the services of certified valuation specialists to assist with assigning estimated values to certain acquired assets and assumed liabilities. As of December 31, 2020, the valuation of assets acquired and liabilities assumed is substantially complete except for the finalization of certain aspects of spectrum valuation, the valuation of certain income tax matters and loss contingencies.

(in millions)April 1, 2020
Cash and cash equivalents$2,084 
Accounts receivable1,781 
Equipment installment plan receivables1,088 
Inventory658 
Prepaid expenses140 
Assets held for sale1,908 
Other current assets631 
Property and equipment18,435 
Operating lease right-of-use assets6,583 
Financing lease right-of-use assets291 
Goodwill9,401 
Spectrum licenses45,400 
Other intangible assets6,325 
Equipment installment plan receivables due after one year, net247 
Other assets (1)
540 
Total assets acquired95,512 
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities4,944 
Short-term debt2,760 
Deferred revenue508 
Short-term operating lease liabilities1,818 
Short-term financing lease liabilities
Liabilities held for sale475 
Other current liabilities671 
Long-term debt29,037 
Tower obligations950 
Deferred tax liabilities3,513 
Operating lease liabilities5,615 
Financing lease liabilities12 
Other long-term liabilities4,374 
Total liabilities assumed54,685 
Total consideration transferred$40,827 
(1) Included in Other assets acquired is $80 million in restricted cash.
Amounts previously disclosed for the estimated values of certain acquired assets and liabilities assumed have been revised based on additional information arising subsequent to the initial valuation.

Significant Measurement Period Adjustments

During the year ended December 31, 2020, we recognized measurement period adjustments to reflect facts and circumstances in existence as of the date of the Merger. These adjustments included:

An increase of $1.2 billion in Property and equipment related to the finalization of valuations related to certain tower assets and an increase of $1.7 billion in Other long-term liabilities associated with contract terms that are unfavorable to market terms. See Note 9 – Tower Obligations for further information; and
A decrease of $690 million in Deferred tax liabilities resulting from a $357 million reclassification from deferred tax liabilities to current liabilities and the continued assessment of valuation allowance necessary as of the date of the Merger along with tax effecting measurement period adjustments. See Note 13 - Income Taxes for further information.

The measurement period adjustments did not have a significant impact on our Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income for the year ended December 31, 2020. The net impact of the measurement period adjustments resulted in a net increase to goodwill.

Intangible Assets and Liabilities

Goodwill with a provisionally assigned value of $9.4 billion represents the excess of the consideration transferred over the estimated fair values of assets acquired and liabilities assumed. The preliminary goodwill recognized includes synergies expected to be achieved from the operations of the combined company, the assembled workforce of Sprint and intangible assets that do not qualify for separate recognition. Expected synergies include the cost savings from the planned integration of network infrastructure, facilities, personnel and systems. None of the goodwill resulting from the Merger is deductible for tax purposes. All of the goodwill acquired is allocated to the wireless reporting unit.

Other intangible assets include $4.9 billion of customer relationships with a weighted-average useful life of eight years and tradenames of $207 million with a useful life of two years. Leased spectrum arrangements that have favorable (asset) and unfavorable (liability) terms compared to current market rates were assigned preliminary fair values of $790 million and $197 million, respectively, with 18 year and 19 year weighted average useful lives, respectively.

The preliminary fair value of Spectrum licenses of $45.4 billion was estimated using the income approach, specifically a Greenfield model. This fair value measurement is based on significant inputs not observable in the market and, therefore, represents a Level 3 measurement as defined in ASC 820. The key assumptions in applying the income approach include the discount rate, market share, estimated capital and operating expenditures, forecasted service revenue and long-term growth rate for a hypothetical market participant that enters the wireless industry and builds a nationwide wireless network.

Acquired Receivables

The fair value of the assets acquired include Accounts receivable of $1.8 billion and EIP receivables of $1.3 billion. The unpaid principal balance under these contracts as of the Merger date was $1.8 billion and $1.6 billion, respectively. The difference between the fair value and the unpaid principal balance primarily represents amounts expected to be uncollectible.

Indemnification Assets and Contingent Liabilities

Pursuant to Amendment No 2. to the Business Combination Agreement, SoftBank agreed to indemnify us against certain specified matters and losses. As of December 31, 2020, we have recorded a contingent liability and an offsetting indemnification asset for the expected reimbursement by SoftBank for certain Lifeline matters that have not been resolved. The liability is presented in Accounts payable and accrued liabilities, and the indemnification asset is presented in Other current assets within our Consolidated Balance Sheets. In November 2020, we entered into a consent decree with the FCC to resolve certain Lifeline matters, which resulted in a payment of $200 million by SoftBank. We expect that any additional liabilities related to these indemnified matters would be indemnified and reimbursed by SoftBank.
Transaction Costs

We recognized transaction costs of $201 million, $106 million and $71 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. These costs were associated with legal and professional services and were recognized as Selling, general and administrative expenses in our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income.

Pro Forma Information

The following unaudited pro forma financial information gives effect to the Transactions as if they had been completed on January 1, 2019. The unaudited pro forma information was prepared in accordance with the requirements of ASC 805, which is a different basis than pro forma information prepared under Article 11 of Regulation S-X (“Article 11”). As such, they are not directly comparable with historical results for stand-alone T-Mobile prior to April 1, 2020, historical results for T-Mobile from April 1, 2020 that reflect the Transactions and are inclusive of the results and operations of Sprint, nor our previously provided pro forma financials prepared in accordance with Article 11. The pro forma results for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 include the impact of several adjustments to previously reported operating results. The pro forma adjustments are based on historically reported transactions by the respective companies. The pro forma results do not include any anticipated synergies or other expected benefits of the acquisition.
Year Ended December 31,
(in millions, except per share amounts)20202019
Total revenues$74,681 $70,607 
Income from continuing operations3,302 185 
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax677 1,594 
Net income3,979 1,792 

Significant nonrecurring pro forma adjustments include:

Transaction costs of $559 million are assumed to have occurred on January 1, 2019, and are recognized as if incurred in the first quarter of 2019;
The Prepaid Business divested on July 1, 2020, is assumed to have been classified as discontinued operations as of January 1, 2019, and the related activities are presented in Income from discontinued operations, net of tax;
Permanent financing issued and debt redemptions occurring in connection with the closing of the Merger are assumed to have occurred on January 1, 2019, and historical interest expense associated with repaid borrowings is removed;
Tangible and intangible assets are assumed to be recorded at their estimated fair values as of the pro forma close date of January 1, 2019 and are depreciated or amortized over their estimated useful lives; and
Accounting policies of Sprint are conformed to those of T-Mobile including depreciation for leased devices, Brightstar distribution, amortization of costs to acquire a contract and certain tower lease transactions as described in Note 1 - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Note 9 - Tower Obligations.

The selected unaudited pro forma condensed combined financial information is provided for illustrative purposes only and does not purport to represent what the actual consolidated results of operations would have been had the Transactions actually occurred on January 1, 2019, nor do they purport to project the future consolidated results of operations.

For the periods subsequent to the Merger close date, the acquired Sprint subsidiaries contributed total revenues and operating income of $20.5 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2020, that were included in our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income.

Financing

In connection with the entry into the Business Combination Agreement, T-Mobile USA, Inc. (“T-Mobile USA”) entered into a commitment letter, dated as of April 29, 2018 (as amended and restated on May 15, 2018 and on September 6, 2019, the “Commitment Letter”). On April 1, 2020, in connection with the closing of the Merger, we drew down on our $19.0 billion New Secured Bridge Loan Facility and our $4.0 billion New Secured Term Loan Facility (each as defined below). We used the net proceeds from the drawdown of the secured facilities to refinance certain existing debt of us, Sprint and our and Sprint’s respective subsidiaries and for post-closing general corporate purposes of the combined company. See Note 8 – Debt for further information.
In connection with the financing provided for in the Commitment Letter, we incurred certain fees payable to the financial institutions. On April 1, 2020, in connection with the closing of the Merger, we paid $355 million in Commitment Letter fees to certain financial institutions. See Note 8 – Debt for further information.

In connection with the entry into the Business Combination Agreement, DT and T-Mobile USA entered into a Financing Matters Agreement, dated as of April 29, 2018 (the “Financing Matters Agreement”), pursuant to which DT agreed, among other things, to consent to, subject to certain conditions, amendments to certain existing debt owed to DT, in connection with the Merger. On April 1, 2020, in connection with the closing of the Merger, we made a payment for requisite consents to DT of $13 million. See Note 8 – Debt for further information.

On May 18, 2018, under the terms and conditions described in the Consent Solicitation Statement dated as of May 14, 2018 (the “Consent Solicitation Statement”), we obtained consents necessary to effect amendments to certain existing debt of us and our subsidiaries. On April 1, 2020, in connection with the closing of the Merger, we made payments for requisite consents to third-party note holders of $95 million. See Note 8 – Debt for further information.

Regulatory Matters

The Transactions were the subject of various legal and regulatory proceedings involving a number of state and federal agencies. In connection with those proceedings and the approval of the Transactions, we have certain commitments and other obligations to various state and federal agencies and certain nongovernmental organizations. See Note 18 - Commitments and Contingencies for further information.

Prepaid Transaction

On July 26, 2019, we entered into the Asset Purchase Agreement with Sprint and DISH, pursuant to which, following the consummation of the Merger, DISH would acquire the Prepaid Business.

On June 17, 2020, T-Mobile, Sprint and DISH entered into the First Amendment to the Asset Purchase Agreement. Pursuant to the First Amendment of the Asset Purchase Agreement, T-Mobile, Sprint and DISH agreed to proceed with the closing of the Prepaid Transaction in accordance with the Asset Purchase Agreement on July 1, 2020, subject to the terms and conditions of the Asset Purchase Agreement and the terms and conditions of the Consent Decree.

On July 1, 2020, pursuant to the Asset Purchase Agreement, we completed the Prepaid Transaction. Upon closing of the Prepaid Transaction, we received $1.4 billion from DISH for the Prepaid Business, subject to working capital adjustments. See Note 12 - Discontinued Operations for further information.

Shenandoah Personal Communications Company Affiliate Relationship

Sprint PCS (specifically Sprint Spectrum L.P.) is party to a variety of publicly filed agreements with Shenandoah Personal Communications Company LLC (“Shentel”), pursuant to which Shentel is the exclusive provider of Sprint PCS’s wireless mobility communications network products in certain parts of Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Pursuant to one such agreement, the Sprint PCS Management Agreement, dated November 5, 1999 (as amended, supplemented and modified from time to time, the “Management Agreement”), Sprint PCS was granted an option to purchase Shentel’s wireless telecommunications assets used to provide services pursuant to the Management Agreement. On August 26, 2020, Sprint, now our direct subsidiary, on behalf of and as the direct or indirect owner of Sprint PCS, exercised its option by delivering a binding notice of exercise to Shentel. The exercise of this option triggered a requirement for the parties to engage three independent valuation providers (the “Valuation Providers”) to calculate the “entire business value” (the “Entire Business Value”) of such wireless telecommunications assets, pursuant to a formula and valuation process prescribed in the Management Agreement.

Subsequent to December 31, 2020, on February 1, 2021, in accordance with the Management Agreement and other agreed-upon terms, the Valuation Providers determined and calculated the Entire Business Value of Shentel’s wireless telecommunication assets used to provide services pursuant to the Management Agreement to be $2.1 billion, and correspondingly, the base purchase price for such wireless telecommunication assets shall be ninety percent (90%) of that Entire Business Value amount ($1.9 billion), subject to certain other purchase price adjustments prescribed by the Management Agreement and such additional purchase price adjustments agreed by the parties. The parties are negotiating the remaining outstanding terms of a definitive agreement to govern the purchase of Shentel’s wireless telecommunication assets and expect the transaction to close in the second quarter of 2021 after satisfying customary conditions to closing.