Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile talking about a merger

A merger would create a company with a market cap of around $360bn with 200 million mobile subscribers. DT has a market cap of about $156bn, while T-Mobile has a market cap of about $203bn.

The German government and the state-owned development bank KfW (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau) have a 28% stake in DT.

The plan is that a new holding company, owned by the existing shareholders and listed in both the US and Germany, will make an all-share bid for both companies.

T-Mobile’s stock has lost a quarter of its value in the past year, while DT shares are down about 10%.

The idea is that a combined group will make it easier to pursue cross-border M&A opportunities.

It is not thought that anti-trust issues will scupper the deal.