Why revisiting the Deutsche Telekom case now ?
Because the 01/29/16 completion of its swap of a 50% stake in EE for an about
€7.5Bn block of BT Group shares could be just the start :
- DT will become BT’s largest shareholder with a 12% stake
- BT deal could prove to be the first of a number of boundary effects in 2016
In a nutshell
The acquisition of BT shares will further expand the proportion of DT’s sum-ofthe-
parts that has an independent market value
the listing of Scout24 and the acquisition of the Stroeer stake are also helpful in
this respect
DT is directly and indirectly facing 2 significant events :
- the Q2 US airwave auction ,whose outcome will theoretically reopen the
M&A window for T-Mobile US
- the Ofcom investigation into BT Openreach which has significant
implications for competition in the UK and the potential for closer
integration of DT and BT
Speculation around a DT stake increase or bid for BT would probably increase if :
- DT monetised some or all of its T-Mobile US stake
- any steady commercial and financial outperformance of BT Group