SoftBank in talks to sell down T-Mobile US stake to Deutsche Telekom: WSJ

[TOKYO] SoftBank Group is in talks to sell "a significant portion" of its T-Mobile US stake to controlling shareholder Deutsche Telekom, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing unidentified sources.

A deal would see Deutsche Telekom's stake in the carrier, which merged with SoftBank's wireless unit Sprint last month, rise above 50 per cent, the newspaper reported.

It did not say how much of SoftBank's 24 per cent stake in T-Mobile US the Japanese conglomerate was planning to sell down, nor how much it would raise for it.

SoftBank and Deutsche Telekom were not immediately available for comment.

SoftBank is widely expected to try and monetise its T-Mobile stake as it looks to raise US$41 billion through asset sales to prop up its floundering tech investing empire and fund a record share buyback.

Lock-up provisions agreed to as part of the merger would likely be altered to permit the transaction, the WSJ said.

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SoftBank's shares were up 1.8 per cent in early afternoon trading, largely unchanged from earlier in the day.

REUTERS