People with knowledge of the situation revealed that France-based Iliad SA is currently negotiating with private-equity firms over a partnership that will allow for an improved bid for Deutsche Telekom AGs T-Mobile U.S. Inc. division.
Iliads Chief Financial Officer Mr. Thomas Reynaud said at a news conference on Monday that a few interested companies, which could be either industrial or financial partners in an eventual bid for T-Mobile, have approached the company for negotiations.
Mr. Reynaud said in a statement, which was cited by Reuters: “To ensure that these discussions go to term, we cannot tell you more about them this morning.” As reported by Bloomberg, he also shared: “Our offer is still valid, and probably even more relevant than at the end of July.”
In July, Deutsche Telekom received a $15 billion offer, or $33 per share, for a 56.6% stake in T-Mobile by Iliad but said that it is not interested in selling the unit at that price. The senior managers of Deutsche Telekom had a strategy meeting on August 28th at which they discussed the range of $35 to $40 as a realistic per-share valuation of T-Mobile.
The people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the talks are not public yet, said that the discussions of Iliad with some potential partners may advance after Deutsche Telekom hinted that it may consider a sale if the renewed offer values the US carrier at at least $35 per share.
In addition, the people in question explained that Iliad has not made a new offer and there is no guarantee that an increased bid for T-Mobile will be made.
Iliad SA lost 6.10% to trade at €157.00 per share at 12:39 GMT in Paris, marking a one year change of -13.50%. The company is valued at €9.71 billion. According to the Financial Times, the 17 analysts offering 12-month price targets for Iliad SA have a median target of €220.00, with a high estimate of €300.00 and a low estimate of €135.00. The median estimate represents a 31.58% increase from the previous close of €167.20.
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