French low-cost telecoms operator Iliad abandoned its attempt to purchase T-Mobile US on Monday because of resistance from majority owner Deutsche Telekom, becoming the third bidder to walk away in three years.Iliad had set a mid-October deadline to decide whether to improve its $33 a share bid for 56.6 percent of the fourth-biggest cellphone network operator in the United States, sources told Reuters last month."The Iliad group announces that it puts an end to its project of acquiring T-Mobile US, following exchanges with Deutsche Telekom and selected board members of T-Mobile US who have refused to entertain its new offer," Iliad said in a statement.The low-cost telecoms operator set up by maverick French tycoon Xavier Niel said it had set up a consortium with two "leading private equity funds" to enable it to improve the offer to around $36 a share for 67 percent of the business.
Shares of TMUS fell by 2.5% or $-0.69/share to $26.92. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $24.90 and as high as $35.50. On average, 5030630 shares of TMUS exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 10146639.
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