Deutsche Telekom weighs full merger with T-Mobile US, could set record deal

Deutsche Telekom is exploring a full combination with T-Mobile US that would turn a long-running parent-subsidiary relationship into one of the biggest corporate deals ever attempted. The structure under discussion would use a new holding company and stock bids for both the German parent and its U.S. wireless arm, a transaction so large it could become the largest public merger and acquisition deal on record.

The market stakes are enormous. T-Mobile US was valued at about $218.57 billion in the reporting that surfaced the talks, while Deutsche Telekom was valued at about $166.46 billion. More recent snapshots put Deutsche Telekom around €142.56 billion, and China Mobile in the roughly $227.7 billion to $234.7 billion range, which helps explain why a combined company is being framed as a challenger for the title of the world’s largest wireless operator by market capitalization.

The move would also mark a sharp change in posture. Deutsche Telekom said on Feb. 11 that it owned 52.8% of T-Mobile US, had no plans to sell any T-Mobile shares in 2026, and was still reviewing opportunities to increase its stake if strategically sensible and financially attractive. A full merger would go far beyond that approach, effectively reversing two decades of partial control since Deutsche Telekom bought VoiceStream for $50.7 billion in 2000.

For consumers, the question is not just size but power. T-Mobile is one of the three dominant U.S. wireless carriers, and folding it fully into Deutsche Telekom would likely intensify antitrust scrutiny over pricing, investment promises and the concentration of market power across the Atlantic. Any deal would need political support in Germany, where the German government and KfW each hold about 14% of Deutsche Telekom and would have a say in any major restructuring.

The company’s financial results help explain why Deutsche Telekom is thinking so ambitiously. The parent generated €119.1 billion in 2025 revenue, €44.2 billion in adjusted EBITDA AL and €9.7 billion in adjusted net profit. T-Mobile’s 2025 performance was also strong, with 7.8 million postpaid net customer additions, $71.3 billion in service revenues, $11.0 billion in net income and $18.0 billion in adjusted free cash flow.

Those numbers show why T-Mobile has become Deutsche Telekom’s crown jewel, and why a merger would be read as a bet on scale rather than a routine portfolio move. Shares of T-Mobile rose more than 1% after the report, signaling that investors immediately saw the strategic value, even as the talks remained preliminary and approval hurdles in Germany and the United States loomed large.