T-Mobile UK sale is on: report

Early negotiations have begun for the sell-off of Deutsche Telekom’s under performing UK venture T-Mobile. 

Vodafone, France Telecom, and Telefónica are all interested parties n the transaction, FT.com reports.
 The report claims that Deutsche Telekom is hoping to garner €4bn from the sale, bolstered by a recent rally in the stock markets. In May however, Deutsche Telekom announced that the book value of T-Mobile UK was €5.3 billon.
 
Speculation also suggests that a merger between T-Mobile and France Telecom’s Orange UK unit is on the table although neither party would confirm that rumor.
 
Deutsche Telekom has been mooted to be in talks with a variety of global carriers for the unit with recent speculation suggesting that it was considering swapping T-Mobile UK against Vodafone’s operation in Turkey.
 
Deutsche Telekom reported a  Q2 profit of €521 million, up from €394 million for Q2 last year with sales up by 7.2%.
 
Deutsche CEO Rene Obermann said that measures implemented to stem the negative performance from T-Mobile UK had started to take effect in the last quarter. During Q1 the value of the UK business was written down by €1.8 billion and management was overhauled. T-Mobile UK shed 206,000 subscribers in the year to June 30.
 
“We took resolute action at the right time in a difficult environment. The figures for the second quarter make us confident for the full year,” Obermann said in early August. http://www.telecomseurope.net/content/greek-asset-pushes-deutsche-profits