Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Sprint (S) May Acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom

Deutsche Telekom AG and Sprint (NYSE:S) have reportedly been in negotiations over the T-Mobile USA held by Deutsche, where they would receive a big stake in the combined company.

Talks have been on and off, and a deal may not be reached, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the talks are private. The companies haven’t been able to agree on the valuation of T-Mobile USA, which reported a drop in profit in the fourth quarter, the people said. Sprint and Deutsche Telekom shares jumped.

A merger of Sprint and T-Mobile USA would combine the third- and fourth-largest U.S. wireless providers behind Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) T-Mobile USA may be worth $15 billion to $20 billion, according to Michael Kovacocy, an analyst at Evolution Securities in London. Sprint’s market value was $13.6 billion as of yesterday’s close.

Deutsche Telekom may be disappointed in the price an acquirer is willing to offer, Kovacocy said in an interview. Even though the company may expect about $25 billion, given the unit’s earnings performance, buyers may want to pay less because of customer losses, he said.

“It’s selling from a weak position in the marketplace,” said Kovacocy, who doesn’t own shares in either company. “The operations could fetch well south of $20 billion, well below what DTE would look for.”

Sprint was trading at $4.68, gaining $0.20, or 4.35 percent, as of 11:54 AM EST.




Source

No comments: