The T-Mobile/Sprint merger isn’t a done deal yet, but it’s close enough that Sprint has sold its 17-building headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas City to Wichita-based Occidental Management.
Started back in March, the deal gives Occidental Management all 17 buildings of Sprint’s Overland Park campus headquarters in a sale-leaseback deal where Sprint continues to occupy a portion of the campus. As part of the new deal, Sprint has to consolidate its operations down to 4 buildings instead of its current 11.
Sprint’s new leasing deal puts Occidental Management in control of the majority of the 4 million square feet of space; prior to the sale, Sprint leased parts of the headquarters to other companies.
Sprint announced the sale in an employee email Tuesday morning. “Today we officially closed the sale of the campus with Kansas-based Occidental Management Inc. They are going to be a great partner, as they share our vision to evolve the campus into a center for technology. The favorable terms of the sale provide us the funds to make these investments for our partners. And, we have the option to lease more space if we need it down the road,” the email said.
Sprint is also in the process of remodeling its Conference Center, as well as buildings 6160 and 6220, according to the official sale email.
Selling off its Overland Park office and consolidating its office space is just one of the ways Sprint is preparing for the upcoming merger with T-Mobile. Though no official word has been given just yet, T-Mobile and Sprint have agreed to certain concessions in order to push the merger through.
At first, it was said that Sprint would have to lose Boost Mobile for the merger, but then Virgin Mobile and the Sprint Prepaid Brand was added as well. The FCC and DoJ have been concerned about having a fourth carrier, and apparently, Dish will receive all the sold spectrum and Boost and Virgin Mobile.
With selling their office space, though, perhaps it is the case that Sprint is trying to free itself of some financial debt before the deal with T-Mobile becomes official while making needed renovations to cut down on T-Mobile’s debt when it “swallows” Sprint in the acquisition. Perhaps consolidating its buildings at Overland Park is a tiny concession in the deal from Sprint.
With the FCC approving the merger, and T-Mo and Sprint agreeing to even more concessions (and with Dish billionaire Charlie Ergen agreeing to the deal), it’s likely that it won’t be long now before the DoJ signs off on the deal.
Even with the deal nearing DoJ approval, though, there’s still a battle to fight. Ten State Attorneys General and four states have filed a lawsuit against the merger, claiming that it will eliminate competition and raise prices for customers. The lawsuit will commence this Fall. T-Mobile has said that its 5G network rollout will be aided by Sprint’s 2.5GHz spectrum and that it will keep costs low for three years post-merger while also creating jobs at the same time.
Dish Network’s Charlie Ergen has tried to buy T-Mobile and Sprint before in years past, though unsuccessfully. With his spectrum sitting around, he could use a network to make a carrier happen, and the upcoming deal with T-Mobile will give him Boost and Virgin Mobile plus leased spectrum from T-Mobile for 6-7 years. T-Mobile will provide three years of support as Sprint customers transition to Dish for their wireless service.
Dish has stated its willingness to buy the offloaded spectrum and carriers from the T-Mobile/Sprint merger, but sources say that Dish may not have to roll out its wireless network alone. Fi MVNO owner and search engine giant Google has expressed willingness to partner with Dish and create an independent wireless network. Google’s Fi MVNO is dependent on T-Mobile and Sprint spectrum leasing. With an independent network, Google would no longer have to lease spectrum from either carrier and would finally reach its own wireless dream.