DT Committed to Majority Ownership in T-Mobile
Deutsche Telekom is committed to obtaining majority ownership of T-Mobile in the U.S., DT CEO Tim Hoettges told investors Thursday. DT’s stake was diluted to 43% after T-Mobile bought Sprint from SoftBank, but under a shareholder agreement, it can vote…
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SoftBank’s 9% stake. “We are clearly willing to get the majority in the timeframe that we have laid out,” Hoettges said, noting its proxy voting rights expire in 2024. “We definitely want to get to 50% plus one share -- more would always help, though,” Hoettges said. “We have always argued that Softbank is making a mistake by selling, but if they do, DT investors ought to be happy beneficiaries,” New Street’s Jonathan Chaplin told investors. There is complication, he said: If T-Mobile stock exceeds $150, SoftBank can “clawback” 49 million shares, he said. “This would actually dilute DT to 49%, and this means for DT to go back above 50%, either they could buy [T-Mobile] stock in the market, or DT wouldn’t participate pro-rata in the buyback, which could create extra technical buying for T-Mobile shares.”