Elliott builds stake in Deutsche Telekom, source says
TMUS•Elliott takes stake in Deutsche Telekom
Sept 2 (Reuters) - Elliott Investment Management has built a stake in Deutsche Telekom DTEGn.DE, a person with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.
The exact size of the activist investor's stake in the German telecom company could not be determined.
Merger with T-Mobile US faces renewed scrutiny
Bloomberg News, first reporting the news earlier on Wednesday, said Elliott indicated that Deutsche Telekom should ditch a potential merger with T-Mobile US TMUS.O and look at other ways to unlock shareholder value, including larger share buybacks.
T-Mobile, Deutsche Telekom's American arm, declined a Reuters request for comment. Elliott and the German company did not immediately respond.
Reuters reported in April that Deutsche Telekom is exploring a deal to combine with T-Mobile US and create a transatlantic telecoms giant in what would be the largest-ever public merger.
Deutsche Telekom holds around a 54% stake in T-Mobile — its biggest earnings driver.
However, Semafor reported in July that T-Mobile's U.S. executives had told Deutsche Telekom that they no longer support a merger due to shareholder and potential regulatory concerns.
Deutsche Telekom's scale and history with T-Mobile
Deutsche Telekom, one of Europe's largest telecommunications groups, with over 273 million mobile customers, has a market capitalization of around $157 billion, below T-Mobile's $200 billion.
A deal would have created the world's biggest wireless operator by market value, beating China Mobile 600941.SS.
Deutsche Telekom's ties to T-Mobile date back around 25 years, with its ownership stake fluctuating over that period, although the German group has tightened its grip since 2020.
