A French telecom giant is trying to raise money from at least two of America’s biggest tech companies to fund a second takeover bid for T-Mobile, The Post has learned.
A few weeks ago, the company, Iliad, made a surprise offer of $33 a share for 57 percent of the larger T-Mobile that was quickly rejected. Now Iliad is speaking to the likes of Google and Microsoft about teaming up on a bigger proposal, a well-placed source told The Post.
T-Mobile shares closed Tuesday at $28.95, up 11 cents, well below Iliad’s rejected price.
It could not be learned how far advanced the talks are or if they were likely to end with any tech company jumping aboard with a sweetened bid.
Some telecom insiders see the upside of a move by Google to buy into a wireless carrier.
“Google wants everything moved to an Internet protocol standard,” one telecom expert said. “I’ve been waiting for Google to make a move.”
The search giant would like homeowners to watch TV through the Internet, bypassing cable, the expert said.
If T-Mobile built its spectrum, customers could use it for more than just cellular phone service, the expert added.
In that sense, Google, Microsoft and Apple are all on the same page, the telecom source said.
“Google wants unrestricted access to online lives. The only way for them to really get it is to be a communications company,” the source said.
The time could be now with none of the other three wireless carriers in desperate need of a partner or money.
What’s more, the tech companies have reason to keep competition alive among the cellular carriers.
“If they think Sprint or T-Mobile might fail, then they might prop them up,” a telecom lawyer said.
“If you get a duopoly, then they couldn’t access the end user without fees,” the lawyer said.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has signaled it might be OK for the carriers to charge a premium to [a site like] Facebook,” the lawyer added.
The US government would likely welcome an Iliad and Google, or Microsoft, purchase of T-Mobile.
Google and Microsoft spokespeople declined comment. Iliad did not return calls.