Ever since the rumors of a Sprint bid for T-Mobile US came to an end with Sprint abandoning its efforts in early August, there’s been an awful lot of speculation about what other company might partner up with T-Mobile. French telecommunications company Iliad is said to be courting T-Mo right now, and it may not be long before we find out if these two will actually get together.
Sources speaking to Reuters say that Iliad has given itself a mid-October deadline to decide whether it will improve its bid for T-Mobile or walk away from the deal. Iliad’s first offer was a $15.6 billion cash bid for a 56.6 percent stake in T-Mobile US, but T-Mo parent company Deutsche Telekom is said to have concerns about whether or not Iliad could actually make T-Mo better since it currently has no presence in the US. Iliad is said to believe that it can save around $2 billion per year for T-Mo US by running it more efficiently.
Iliad recently met with US investors in an effort to raise some extra cash for its T-Mobile US bid, but so far it’s not clear if Iliad will actually make a better offer.
Deutsche Telekom is interested in selling off its stake in T-Mobile, but it seems that the company is in no rush to strike a deal and is instead content to wait for an offer that it feels is appropriate. Whether or not Iliad will continue to make a push for T-Mo remains to be seen, but judging by today’s rumor, it certainly sounds like the French company wants a piece of John Legere and Co.
Do you think that any company will every acquire part or all of T-Mobile US? Or will Deutsche Telekom remain in charge of the carrier for the foreseeable future?
Via Reuters
