German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom is exploring ways to take majority control of T-Mobile’s United States wireless phone operation, according to a report.
This week, the German business publication Handelsblatt reported executives were “determined” to increase their share in their U.S.-based business.
At the moment, Deutsche Telekom controls nearly 44 percent of T-Mobile, with Japanese conglomerate Softbank owning 8.5 percent of the company. Softbank previously owned a significant stake in Sprint, which was acquired by T-Mobile last year.
The American company is one of the fastest-growing segments of Deutshche Telekom, which started offering phone service in Germany before expanding into other countries. The U.S. subsidiary’s growth is attracting significant interest by Deutsche Telekom executives, who are currently exploring ways to take majority control of the company.
Doing so will be no easy task: Deutsche Telekom is heavily in debt, and executives will have to convince its own board as well as government regulators there that increasing its stake in the American subsidiary will help the company increase its revenue in a way that doesn’t remove its focus from its German operations.
