The third possible buyer in as many years decided not to jump into the purchase of T-Mobile US. The French affordable telecom operator Iliad SA stepped down from the deal, which was never formalized, when it faced resistance from T-Mobile’s majority owner Deutsche Telekom.
Detutsche Telekom, according to a person familiar with the company’s mindset, prefers to hold on to the company longer. DT, which owns 66% of T-Mobile, is not convinced that the newbie to the US market could run the company better than the management they already have in place now.
Despite the fact that the deal was tenuous and never presented as a real possibility, T-Mobile’s stock plummeted to a 10-month low. Only three months ago Sprint withdrew its own possible deal to purchase T-Mobile.
The question now is whether T-Mobile can maintain itself as an independent company despite the fact that it has been gaining market share due to aggressive sales and marketing tactics.
“There haven’t been any other viable offers that have emerged since Sprint backed out, and that was not a formal offer to boot. There may be some questions about the price a larger buyer is prepared to pay in turn for a regulatory battle they may have to face,” said Bill Menezes, an analyst at Gartner.
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