

Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen
French low-cost telecoms operator Iliad SA has become the third bidder in three years to walk away from an attempt to buy T-Mobile US Inc. Backed by billionaire founder Xavier Niel, Iliad abandoned its attempt to buy T-Mobile US after resistance from T-Mobile US’ majority owner, Deutsche Telecom.
In a statement from Iliad, the French company announced on Monday that it was ending its efforts to take over T-Mobile US, despite having increased the size of the stake it was willing to acquire and the price it was willing to pay.
Their initial bid was $15 million, they then raised it further; however, sources told Reuters that Deutsche Telekom was unconvinced by the price and by Niel’s ability to run the business. With only three months having passed since Sprint Corp. dropped its own bid to buy T-Mobile, the latest failed bid has dropped the U.S. carrier’s share to a 10-month low.
The opposite can be said for Iliad, whose shares rose 12 percent on Tuesday. Many investor’s would prefer Niel to focus his attention on organic growth and revive talks with struggling mobile player Bouygues. Bouygues shares also increased 4.6 percent at 0711 GMT after the decision to end the bid was announced.
T-Mobile US and 66 percent owner of the business Deutsche Telekom, declined to comment.
After meeting with T-Mobile’s investor relations team last month, Jefferies analyst Mike McCormack said “T-Mobile has been searching for a buyer with access to U.S. spectrum licenses and an American customer base.” This has fueled rumors that Dish may be a possible suitor for the company.
In August, Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen said it makes sense for the company to consider making a bid for T-Mobile now that Sprint is out of the picture.
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