One takeover bid falls apart, another one is rumored to be in the works. Shares of Sprint rose early this morning due to a number of reports that German telco Deutsche Telekom is looking at it as a potential takeover target.

According to Bloomberg, reports of DT's interest first surfaced in Der Spiegel over the weekend.

Deutsche Telekom owns Sprint rival T-Mobile USA. A merger of the two would result in a wireless operator that would give AT&T a run for its first-place market share.

If the reports are true, what are the chances of such a deal actually surviving the gauntlet of antitrust issues?