"Telekom Chief Executive Ron Sommer offered in May to
take over France Telecom's stake in the venture, which a France Telecom
spokeswoman ruled out over the weekend, the paper said."
Deutsche Telekom Seeks Link With Qwest, KPN, Others, Paper Says
Bonn, July 19 (Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Telekom AG, Europe's largest phone
company that is looking for partners to help spur its international expansion, is
seeking links with Sprint Corp. and Qwest Communications International Inc. of
the U.S., Royal KPN NV of the Netherlands, Cable & Wireless Plc of the
U.K. and Telefonica SA, Spain's dominant phone company, the business daily
Handelsblatt said, citing informed circles. While the former German monopoly
has greater interest in entering the U.S. market than it does in European
expansion, its U.S. efforts have been hindered by questions about the future of
Telekom's Global One venture with France Telecom SA and Sprint; the
contract among the three companies only allows Telekom to do business in the
U.S. through Sprint. Telekom Chief Executive Ron Sommer offered in May to
take over France Telecom's stake in the venture, which a France Telecom
spokeswoman ruled out over the weekend, the paper said.
Telefonica Chairman Juan Villalonga Friday denied his company was discussing
a merger or partnership with Deutsche Telekom. Deutsche Telekom declined to
comment over the weekend. (Handelsblatt 7/19 1 and www.handelsblatt.de)
NYSE/AMEX delayed 20 min. NASDAQ delayed 15 min. |
