O2 and Vodafone Make Competing Offers for T-Mobile UK

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7:31 pm on September 6, 2009 | Category: Business, Wireless, Corporate

The UK’s two leading wireless operators, O2 and Vodafone, have reportedly made competing £3.5 billion offers for smaller rival, T-Mobile UK.

T-Mobile was put up for sale by Deutsche Telekom, after the German telecom giant was forced to make a £1.6 billion write-down on its wireless operations earlier this year. The £3.5 billion conditional offers are in line with a recent appraisal by telecom analysts, but are thought to fall short of the price that Deutsche CEO, Rene Obermann is seeking for the unit.

Another option for Obermann would be a merger of T-Mobile with the UK division of Orange. France Telecom, the parent company of Orange, has already suggested this as a possibility.

Any deal that materializes is likely to face intense scrutiny from British and EU telecom regulators.