The companies declined to comment. France Telecom could acquire the stake as early as today for about $3.89 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation. A 20 percent share was worth $1.46 billion at Mobilcom's closing stock price Friday. Focus, a German magazine, and the Financial Times also reported France Telecom's interest.
Taking a stake in Germany's third-biggest long-distance phone company would come as the German government prepares to auction transmission licenses for wireless service that allow faster Internet access. France Telecom failed to enter the German market last year after losing a battle to buy German wireless company E-Plus Mobilfunk GmbH.
France Telecom shares rose as much as 10.5 euros, or 5.6 percent, to 197.5 euros ($192.09) in Paris and recently traded at 196.5 ($190.76). Mobilcom shares rose as much as 26.8 euros ($26.01), or 15 percent, to 201.8 euros ($195.89) in Germany.
Setbacks
Mobilcom is one of the last major independent phone companies left
in Germany after Vodafone AirTouch bought Mannesmann for
about $200 billion earlier this year.
France Telecom, which counts about 4 million wireless phone users outside France, has suffered a series of setbacks in its attempts to expand operations across Europe.
Earlier this month, a group led by Vivendi, the world's biggest water company and a France Telecom rival in telephony, won the bid to build a Spanish wireless phone network, defeating bids by a group headed by France Telecom.
Last year, plans to accelerate international mobile phone growth received a blow after an agreement to buy a majority of E-Plus, a five-year-old German company with 3.8 million customers, were thwarted by BellSouth.
The U.S. local phone service company grabbed the 77.5 percent it didn't already own in Germany's third-biggest wireless provider from the unprofitable venture's three other shareholders--Vodafone, Veba and RWE.
In turn, BellSouth will sell the 77.5 percent stake to Royal KPN, the largest phone company in the Netherlands.
Copyright 2000, Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved.
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