Citigroup gives up on its stock price

Citigroup (currently trading at $4.41) on Monday announced a 1-for-10 reverse stock split of its common shares effective after markets close on May 6.  Separately, the banking giant said it plans to reinstate a quarterly dividend of a penny a share in the second quarter.

AT&T to acquire T-Mobile for $39B

AT&T, the #2 US wireless carrier is purchasing T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom for $39B, with $25B in cash and the remainder in AT&T common stock, which will give Deutsche Telekom a roughly 8% stake in AT&T. Regulatory approval is expected to take at least a year due to concerns about market share and price-competition for consumers. If the acquisition is approved, AT&T would have about 130 million wireless subscribers, vaulting it above Verizon Wireless, currently the #1 wireless carrier with a little more than 100 million subscribers. Sprint Nextel Corp., the #3 wireless carrier, was immediately seen as a big loser. The company was said to have been in talks of its own to acquire T-Mobile, and now there are concerns about the company’s status as a weakened player among the carriers with nationwide footprints.

Verizon stock was essentially unaffected by the news.  Sprint Nextel on the other hand is down over 15%.