MetroPCS Holders Left Sitting by Phone

The US wireless industry is back in consolidation mode. But the spoils aren't going to all investors.

Since the start of the year, shares in Sprint Nextel, which Japan's Softbank agreed to buy control of in October, are up 133%. MetroPCS Communications, which Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA is buying, is up only 15%. Is T-Mobile getting a steal? T-Mobile agreed in October to a cash-and-stock merger with MetroPCS. The deal, including a planned $4.09 cash dividend but excluding synergies, valued MetroPCS shares at between $9.27 and $16, depending on the multiple applied, according to Sanford C. Bernstein. Include the company's projected $800 million in synergies, and that value reaches $11.84 to $19.51 a share. Yet shares of MetroPCS closed Tuesday at $9.96. Indeed, the shares have fallen 27% since their closing price the day before the deal was announced. That leaves the door wide open to counterbids. But it is getting harder to see who might step up to make them.