French telecoms company Iliad 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 firm 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, has bid $15 billion in cash for 56.6 percent of T-Mobile US at $33 per share.It said it valued the rest of T-Mobile, the fourth-largest U.S. carrier and 66.67 percent-owned by Deutsche Telekom , at $40.50 per share, and expects $10 billion of cost savings from the deal.The move is the latest in founder Xavier Niel's audacious empire building in telecoms which now includes businesses in Israel, Monaco and France and in many ways makes him a similar figure to Masayoshi Son, the head of Softbank and now his rival suitor for T-Mobile US.
Shares of TMUS traded higher by 6.33% or $1.96/share to $32.90. 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 25377728.
Source
