UPDATE: T-Mobile Seriously Considering Iliad Offer
According to Reuters, "Iliad earlier in the day said in a statement that it offered $15 billion cash for 56.6 percent of T-Mobile for $33 per share. Iliad also valued the rest of T-Mobile at $40.50 per share, and is anticipating $10 billion in cost savings."
T-Mobile (NYSE: TMUS) CEO John Legere is open to the deal, as quoted from CNBC:
"The opportunity for a transaction that brings capital and spectrum would be highly beneficial. The opportunity to bring Sprint and T-Mobile together is one. But there are many different ways to to this and we will consider all of them.”
Shares of T-Mobile were halted on a circuit breaker after climbing more than seven percent following a Dow Jones report that France's Iliad is bidding for the company.
Sprint (NYSE: S) shares sold off more than five percent on the news. It is rumored that Sprint was looking to take over T-Mobile, bringing their combined size closer to the country's two giants. Tuesday, Reuters reported that a Sprint and T-Mobile merger would occur sometime after September.
Dow Jones noted that T-Mobile's market cap is more than 50 percent greater than Iliad's, raising questions as to how the deal would be funded. It is likely a private equity fund would step up with capital.
T-Mobile shares are beginning to pull back. The stock was last trading 5.3 percent higher at $32.58. Sprint shares were last down 6.3 percent to $7.27.
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