DT management said it was not in the “mood” to alter its current ownership stake in T-Mobile US as the unit continues to show strength.
T-Mobile US parent company Deutsche Telekom continues to deny interest in selling off its U.S.-based operations, which have again become a growth driver for the German-based telecom giant.
According to reports, DT CEO Tim Hoettges this week said the company was not in the “mood of selling the business.” Those comments backed ones from earlier this year when Hoettges said DT had no plans to sell T-Mobile US through at least the still ongoing 600 MHz incentive auction proceedings.
The decision comes as T-Mobile US continues to power its way through the domestic wireless market, gaining market share from its rivals and beginning to generate a return for its parent company. In addition, the recent U.S. presidential election, which saw Republican president-elect Donald Trump voted into power, could alter the business approach of government agencies. A Democrat-led administration previously prevented AT&T from acquiring T-Mobile US as well as strongly discouraged Sprint owner SoftBank from acquiring its now larger rival.
“We are now open to how we could create something beyond our execution, which is creating value,” said Hoettges at this week’s Morgan Stanley TMT Conference in Barcelona, Spain, according to Reuters. “We compare a lot of variables. With Trump, the regulatory environment might change. Everybody is expecting this. At least the chance is bigger then it was under the Democrats.”
Hoettges sang a similar tune last week during DT’s third-quarter conference call with investors when he stated: “Look, we like the U.S. business. We like our management there. We like our story there and the track record, and we do not see that there is any weakness on the overall story. So is there any plans with regard to the change of our ownership? No, it’s not. But we want to be open-minded to further consolidation steps in that market, what might come up there in the next years and therefore we are not changing our kingmaker strategy there. The U.S. market is quite attractive and the outlook is quite encouraging and the share price is reflecting this. This is the right market to be in.”
T-Mobile US posted market-leading customer growth results in Q3, which included nearly 2 million net connection additions to its network and gloated of plucking customers from rivals.
T-Mobile US’ stock has ridden the strong results and recent backing from DT to record highs, with its stock price (TMUS) surging to $53.91 per share this week.
DT has a long history of indecision in terms of its U.S. asset following its initial $50 billion acquisition of VoiceStream Wireless in 2001. In 2013, DT managed to dilute its stake in T-Mobile US through a complicated acquisition of MetroPCS, nearly sold all of its stake to SoftBank in 2014, and in a separate deal a portion to France’s Iliad.
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