Rivals locked in €4bn battle for T-Mobile
Mobile phone operators Vodafone and O2 are understood to be locked in a £3.5bn (€4bn) bid battle for rival T-Mobile UK, it was reported today.
Both Newbury-based Vodafone and O2, which is owned by Telefonica Spain, are reported to have bid £3.5bn for the group, which has been put up for sale by its German owner Deutsche Telekom, according to the Sunday Times newspaper.
T-Mobile has 16.6 million customers, so success for either group would make them the biggest mobile operator in the UK.
But there are concerns that T-Mobile UK could be withdrawn from sale altogether, as the offers, which were discussed by Deutsche Telekom’s board at the end of last month, are below the expectations of the group’s chief executive Rene Obermann.
