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France's Iliad offers $15 bn for 56 pct stake in T-Mobile(EFE Ingles Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Paris, Jul 31 (EFE).- French mobile phone and broadband Internet provider Iliad, owner of the Free brand, said Thursday it has made a $15 billion cash offer for a 56.6 percent stake in U.S. No. 4 wireless operator T-Mobile US. Iliad said in a statement that it will finance the transaction - which has the full support of its founder and majority shareholder, Xavier Niel - through a combination of debt and equity. The Paris-based upstart said it has "the support of leading international banks for the acquisition debt," adding that the equity portion would be approximately 2 billion euros ($2.7 billion) and that Niel would participate in the capital increase. The French company said that in contemplating the potential transaction it will "ensure strict financial discipline and value creation for all Iliad shareholders." It said the possible deal should not raise any anti-trust concerns since Iliad does not yet have a presence in the U.S. telecommunications market, but acknowledged that there is "no certainty" that T-Mobile US's board will accept the offer. U.S. media says Sprint, the No. 3 U.S. wireless player, and T-Mobile US are still in talks on merging their operations to create a stronger rival to market leader Verizon and No. 2 operator AT&T, although regulators favor a market with four nationwide carriers. Iliad's offer to acquire 56.6 percent of T-Mobile US, which is based in Bellevue, Washington, and majority owned by Deutsche Telekom, values the company at $33 a share, well below Sprint's reported offer of $40 a share. But the French company says a tie-up would create $10 billion in synergies that would make the remaining 43.4 percent in T-Mobile US worth $40.50 a share. EFE ac/mc (c) 2014 EFE News Services (U.S.) Inc. |