T-Mobile US (NYSE:TMUS) parent Deutsche Telekom is willing to talk about a sale of the unit if it receives an offer that values the company at $35 per share or more, according to a Bloomberg report. However, Reuters reported that, according to an unnamed source, DT views an offer for T-Mobile at $35 a share as being "substantially too low," countering Bloomberg's report.
The Bloomberg report, citing an unnamed source familiar with the matter, said that DT's senior management talked about T-Mobile's valuation at a strategy meeting in Berlin. The leak could be a way for DT to signal to the market that it is open to higher offers for T-Mobile than the $33 per share offer put forward earlier this month by French Internet and mobile company Iliad. DT and T-Mobile have rejected Iliad's $15 billion offer for 56.6 percent of T-Mobile as insufficient.
DT declined to comment on the Bloomberg report and instead referred to comments Deutsche Telekom CEO Timotheus Höttges made earlier this month when he said there are no offers on the table that value T-Mobile more than it's currently worth as a standalone business, and any offer for T-Mobile would need to be worth more than that.
"I'm surprised that Deutsche Telekom would not want north of $40 per share given that they view themselves as the kingmakers of the U.S. wireless market," BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk told Bloomberg.
The jostling comes after Sprint (NYSE: S) and its parent SoftBank abandoned pursuit of a deal with T-Mobile because of regulatory concerns.
Since the breakdown of talks between Sprint and T-Mobile, the two carriers have engaged in tit-for-tat price cuts and new offers for both families and individuals.
For more:
- see this Bloomberg article
- see this Reuters article
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Article updated Aug. 29 at 10 a.m. ET with additional information on Deutsche Telekom's view of a $35 per share offer for T-Mobile US.