AT&T Pulls its $39 Billion Bid for T-Mobile
AT&T Inc.’s $39 billion bid to acquire Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE)’s T-Mobile USA came to an end yesterday in a phone call between the companies’ chief executive officers, according to people familiar with the matter.
AT&T’s Randall Stephenson and Deutsche Telekom’s Rene Obermann ultimately agreed the costs of continuing to fight for the deal unveiled nine months earlier were too high, given the opposition from U.S. regulators, the people said. AT&T’s bid to close the year’s biggest acquisition and become the largest U.S. wireless carrier was over.
“They made an unprecedented move bidding on T-Mobile and appear to have miscalculated the risks and the regulatory opposition,” said Kevin Smithen, an analyst with Macquarie Capital USA Inc.
AT&T failed to convince the Justice Department, which sued to block the transaction in August, that it could remedy the market impact of absorbing T-Mobile, the nation’s No. 4 mobile- phone operator. AT&T would have spent months in litigation to try to win court approval, and the company also faced possible opposition from the Federal Communications Commission.
AT&T rose 1.3 percent to $29.12 at the close in New York and has lost less than 1 percent this year. Deutsche Telekom fell 0.6 percent to 8.84 euros in Frankfurt.
AT&T, the second-largest U.S. wireless operator, will take a pretax charge of $4 billion to reflect cash payments and other considerations due to Deutsche Telekom, the Dallas-based company said in a statement yesterday.
Last Best Offer
The move comes a week after the judge in the Justice Department lawsuit agreed on Dec. 12 to put the case on hold as the telephone company decided whether or how to revise the transaction. The delay may have made it more difficult for AT&T to close the deal by the Sept. 20 deadline.
AT&T had been trying to get regulatory approval for the deal by selling off T-Mobile assets and creating a stronger wireless competitor. The last proposal before the deal was killed was the transfer of $8 billion to $9 billion worth of T- Mobile assets to Leap Wireless International Inc. (LEAP) for a cost of about $2 billion, said two people familiar with the talks.
The Justice Department didn’t consider Leap a strong alternative because the San Diego-based company didn’t have enough money to make substantial capital investments in its network if it acquired the assets, the people said.
AT&T’s Stephenson said in the statement yesterday that efforts by the DOJ and FCC to block the deal may hurt customers and industry investment.
Stephenson’s Confidence
“To meet the needs of our customers, we will continue to invest,” Stephenson said, adding that regulators need to allow more airwave sales and reform rules to “meet our nation’s longer-term spectrum needs.”
Stephenson said in March, when the deal was announced, that he was confident of receiving regulatory clearance. He said the combination would help improve service, speed up investment in faster networks and drive wireless expansion in rural areas. The deal would have added T-Mobile’s 33.7 million customers to AT&T’s 100.7 million subscribers, surpassing Verizon Wireless’s 107.7 million.
Critics of the deal said it would eliminate an aggressive price competitor, driving up subscription costs. T-Mobile’s monthly wireless plans are $15 to $50 cheaper than comparable AT&T plans, according to an analysis by Consumer Reports.
“I’m relieved that we are no longer at risk of concentrating such enormous power in the hands of AT&T and Verizon,” U.S. Senator Al Franken said in a statement.
‘Paying the Price’
What Stephenson thought was an opportunity turned out to be an insurmountable challenge, said Charles Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research Inc.
“I think he overreached,” said Golvin. “They overestimated their ability to influence the regulatory agencies and influence that process. Now they are paying the price.”
The failed deal may cost AT&T next year, said Smithen. The company may have to lower its profit forecast due to capital spending or acquisitions as it makes up for the capacity it had planned to add through T-Mobile, he said.
“The next shoe to drop could be 2012 guidance,” said Smithen. “The company will report earnings next month and we are concerned that there will be downside revisions to 2012 earnings and estimates,” said Smithen.
Ashley Zandy, a spokeswoman for AT&T, (T) declined to comment on the financial forecast.
DT’s Plans
For Deutsche Telekom, the collapse of the deal leaves it with one more subscriber-losing business as the Bonn-based company confronts the fallout from Europe’s debt crisis. Deutsche Telekom had planned to use the proceeds to cut debt by 13 billion euros ($17 billion) and repurchase 5 billion euros of its shares. The company also needs funds to upgrade fiber and wireless networks in Germany and other European markets.
Deutsche Telekom says the deal’s demise won’t change its financial targets for 2011 and that it will remain within its forecast range for debt reduction. The company also said it expects to receive the breakup fee’s cash component by the end of this year, adding that it will resume reporting T-Mobile USA’s earnings as “continued operations.” The division had been reported as “discontinued operations” since the first quarter.
AT&T and Deutsche Telekom pulled their applications to the FCC on Nov. 24, with AT&T announcing the same day that it would record $4 billion in costs this quarter to reflect the risk of the deal collapsing.
$7 Billion Breakup
The withdrawal came after FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski asked the commission on Nov. 22 to send the proposal to an agency judge for a hearing. The same move by the FCC in 2002 helped block EchoStar Communications Corp.’s acquisition of satellite-TV rival DirecTV.
According to the terms of the offer, AT&T must pay Deutsche Telekom a $3 billion breakup fee in cash, transfer radio spectrum to T-Mobile and strike a more favorable network-sharing agreement. Deutsche Telekom has valued the breakup package at as much as $7 billion.
In an effort to sell the deal to regulators and the public, AT&T vowed to honor the T-Mobile service plan prices after the merger. The company also vowed to bring 5,000 call-center jobs currently based overseas to the U.S. in the event of approval.
“They rolled the dice and took their chances,” said Craig Moffett, a Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst in New York. “In the end, it didn’t work out, but that doesn’t mean it was a mistake to try.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Moritz in New York at smoritz6@bloomberg.net; Cornelius Rahn in Frankfurt at crahn2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net
AT&T Pulls $39 Billion T-Mobile Bid
Stephen Yang/Bloomberg
AT&T failed to convince the Justice Department, which sued to block the transaction in August, that it could remedy the market impact of absorbing T-Mobile.
AT&T failed to convince the Justice Department, which sued to block the transaction in August, that it could remedy the market impact of absorbing T-Mobile. Photographer: Stephen Yang/Bloomberg
Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) -- AT&T Inc. abandoned a $39 billion takeover bid for T-Mobile USA after underestimating opposition from regulators, thwarting its ambitions to become the biggest U.S. wireless carrier. AT&T will take a pretax charge of $4 billion to reflect cash payments and other considerations due to T-Mobile-owner Deutsche Telekom AG, the Dallas-based company said in a statement today. Peter Cook, Lisa Murphy, Adam Johnson and Sheila Dharmarajan report on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg)
Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Brian Blair, an analyst at Wedge Partners Corp., talks about AT&T Inc.'s decision to abandon a $39 billion takeover bid for T-Mobile USA and Apple Inc.'s victory in a final patent-infringement ruling that bans some HTC Corp. smartphones from the U.S. Blair speaks with Emily Chang on Bloomberg Television's "Bloomberg West." (Source: Bloomberg)
Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Larry Haverty, portfolio manager at Gamco Investors Inc., talks about AT&T Inc.'s decision to abandon a $39 billion takeover bid for T-Mobile USA, and the outlook for Sprint Nextel Corp. and the wireless industry. Haverty speaks with Cory Johnson on Bloomberg Television's "Bloomberg West." (Source: Bloomberg)
Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Tim Horan, an analyst with Oppenheimer & Co., talks about AT&T Inc.'s decision to abandon a $39 billion takeover bid for T-Mobile USA, thwarting its ambitions to become the biggest U.S. wireless carrier. Horan speaks with Adam Johnson and Lisa Murphy on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg)
Randall Stephenson and Rene Obermann
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Randall Stephenson, chairman and chief executive officer of AT&T Inc., left, and Rene Obermann, chief executive officer of Deutsche Telekom AG.
Randall Stephenson, chairman and chief executive officer of AT&T Inc., left, and Rene Obermann, chief executive officer of Deutsche Telekom AG. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
AT&T Pulls $39 Billion T-Mobile Bid
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Executives at AT&T attend a news conference where it was announced that AT&T Inc. will be buying its wireless rival T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom AG for $39 billion in cash and stock on March 21, 2011 in New York City.
Executives at AT&T attend a news conference where it was announced that AT&T Inc. will be buying its wireless rival T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom AG for $39 billion in cash and stock on March 21, 2011 in New York City. Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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