T-Mobile to Sell $1.8 Billion Stock to Fund Airwave Purchase

T-Mobile US Inc. (TMUS), the country’s fourth-largest mobile-phone carrier, plans to sell shares valued at almost $1.8 billion, raising money it could use to acquire wireless airwaves.

The secondary offering 66.2 million shares will be managed by Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Credit Suisse Group AG and Deutsche Bank AG, T-Mobile said yesterday. The $1.8 billion valuation is based on the stock’s closing price of $26.97 in New York yesterday. T-Mobile will grant the underwriters the option to buy as many as 6.62 million additional shares.

The company, based in Bellevue, Washington, said it may use the proceeds to acquire wireless spectrum — either from other parties or through government auctions. Airwaves have become increasingly valuable as carriers struggle to handle the flood of Internet traffic on smartphones and other devices.

T-Mobile, which is about 74 percent owned by Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE), debuted on the New York Stock Exchange six months ago after merging with MetroPCS Communications Inc. The shares have gained more than 60 percent since then, boosted by subscriber gains at a company that long struggled to compete with Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc. T-Mobile added 648,000 new monthly subscribers last quarter, topping the 401,000 average estimate of analysts.

Late Trading

Even so, the company is losing money, hurt in part by lower prices. T-Mobile had a third-quarter net loss of $36 million, following a second-quarter net loss of $16 million. The company’s average phone bill for monthly subscribers shrank about 3 percent to $52.20 from the second quarter. Analysts had projected $52.86.

The new offering would dilute the value of current shareholders’ stakes. Investors responded by sending the stock down as much as 3.5 percent to $26.02 in late trading yesterday after the announcement.

Deutsche Telekom shares climbed less than 1 percent to 11.25 euros at 9:18 a.m. in Frankfurt. The stock has gained 31 percent this year, valuing the Bonn-based carrier at 50 billion euros ($67 billion).

Source:Bloomberg