By Mike Robuck
Deutsche Telekom CEO Timotheus Hoettges has announced that his company achieved a goal of becoming the majority stakeholder in T-Mobile US during the German-headquartered operator’s AGM 5 April, with its stake up to 50.2 per cent.
During the meeting, Hoettges noted Deutsche Telekom had committed to becoming the majority owner of T-Mobile in 2021.
T-Mobile initiated a share buyback programme in September 2022 but financial news site MarketWatch reported Deutsche Telekom did not participate, which allowed the US operator to increase its stake.
With majority ownership in hand, Hoettges stated Deutsche Telekom will consider whether to participate in the buyback programme or raise its stake further without doing so, MarketWatch reported.
Deutsche Telekom initially held a 43 per cent stake at the close of a T-Mobile deal to buy Sprint in 2020.
Sprint parent SoftBank Group had 24 per cent.
Deutsche Telekom acquired 21.2 million shares from the Japanese company in 2022 for US$2.4 billion to increase its stake to 48.4 per cent.
