Deutsche Telekom had already given up on trying to sell its near 67 percent stake in T-Mobile US before upstart French telecoms firm Iliad dropped its bid on Monday and is now looking to avoid having to stump up more funds for the U.S. mobile network operator, analysts and investors said.The French low-cost telecoms operator said late on Monday it had abandoned its attempt to purchase T-Mobile because of resistance from Deutsche Telekom, becoming the third bidder to drop out in three years.Competition regulators blocked AT&T's agreed $39 billion deal to take over T-Mobile US in 2011 and also headed off this year's attempt by Sprint and its majority owner Softbank Corp to merge the two firms.Deutsche Telekom had hoped to reduce its exposure to the U.S. business before next year's scheduled auction of radio waves which analysts estimate will cost T-Mobile billions of dollars to get the lower-range frequencies it needs to give its mobile network further reach and better compete with rival operators Verizon, AT&T and Sprint.
Shares of TMUS traded higher by 0.06% or $0.015/share to $26.94. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $24.90 and as high as $35.50. On average, 5081000 shares of TMUS exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 3342515.
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