French telecoms company Iliad SA has made a surprise offer for T-Mobile US Inc , setting up a potential bidding war with rival suitor Sprint Corp, the U.S. mobile carrier now controlled by Japan's Softbank.Iliad, which has shaken up the French mobile and broadband market in the past decade with its cheap, pared-down subscriber plans, bid $15 billion in cash for 56.6 percent of T-Mobile US at $33 per share, it said in a statement on Thursday.The French company said it valued the rest of T-Mobile, the fourth-largest U.S. carrier and 66.67 percent-owned by Deutsche Telekom AG, at $40.50 per share.It expects $10 billion of cost savings from the deal, though it is unclear where it would make those savings as Iliad has no U.S. operations at present.
Shares of TMUS traded higher by 6.46% or $2.0/share to $32.94. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $22.95 and as high as $35.50. On average, 3769450 shares of TMUS exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 29037014.
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