Deutsche Telekom AG and France Telecom SA plan to merge their British mobile phone units to form what would be the country’s biggest mobile operator, the German company announced yesterday.
Deutsche Telekom said the two companies have entered exclusive negotiations on combining Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile UK with France Telecom’s Orange UK in a 50-50 joint venture.
It said the new company would have a customer base of some 28.4 million mobile phone users, or about 37 percent of UK mobile subscribers based on December figures.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
That means the new company would overtake Britain’s current market leader, O2. Owned by Spain’s Telefonica, O2 has a 27 percent share of the market.
Vodafone is second with 25 percent of the market. Orange has 22 percent, T-Mobile 15 percent and Hutchison Whampoa’s 3 has 8 percent.
The proposed deal “is expected to create substantial value for both shareholders,” Deutsche Telekom said in a statement. It added that it expects the merger to generate synergies with a net present value of more than £3.5 billion ($US5.7 billion).
Signing of a deal is expected at the end of October, and its completion would be subject to approval by antitrust authorities, it said.
The business had combined 2008 revenue of some £7.7 billion and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of £1.7 billion, Deutsche Telekom said.
Bonn-based Deutsche Telekom said it will contribute T-Mobile UK to the merged firm “on a cash-free, debt-free basis,” including the British unit’s 50 percent holding in a 3G network joint venture with Hutchison and gross tax losses carried forward of at least £1.5 billion.
France Telecom would contribute Orange UK, including £1.25 billion of intra-group net debt, “in order to equalize the value of the contributions to the joint venture,” the statement said.
Once the deal closes, Deutsche Telekom would grant a £625 million shareholder loan to the joint venture, which it said would be used to reimburse £625 million to France Telecom.
The joint venture would have total debt of £1.25 billion, represented by shareholder loans of £625 million each held by Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom, the statement said.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
‘BOOMING’: ’ The number of partners we have here is incredible. You can see from their stock prices. They’re doing so well, they’re so happy,’ Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp’s spending in Taiwan has ballooned to about US$150 billion a year, 10 times the US$10 billion to US$15 billion the company spent five years ago, Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday, suggesting Taiwan’s strategic importance in the global artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain. “Taiwan is the epicenter of the AI revolution. This is where the chips come, packaging comes. This is where the systems are made. This is where AI supercomputers were created,” Huang said at a meeting for the company’s employees in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei, the planned site of Nvidia’s Taipei headquarters. “Taiwan
GREATER REACH? Auto parts and wood products would face tariffs of up to 15%, matching those targeting the EU, Japan and South Korea, Vice Premier said The US has announced that preferential tariff treatment for Taiwan’s non-semiconductor Section 232 goods would take effect retroactively from May 1, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The US government yesterday posted a notice on the Federal Register’s public inspection Web site previewing tariff concessions for Taiwan under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Taiwan-US investment after two months of negotiations. The MOU signed on Jan. 15 stipulated three major preferential tariff arrangements: a 15 percent “reciprocal” tariff rate for Taiwan without stacking most-favored nation (MFN) rates; preferential Section 232 treatment for semiconductors and related products; and preferential Section 232 treatment for non-semiconductor
RSS