Deutsche Telekom increased its shareholding in its lucrative T-Mobile US operation to 48.4 per cent, taking a further step towards a goal of acquiring a majority stake in the operator.

The Germany headquartered operator stated it acquired a further 21.2 million T-Mobile shares from SoftBank Group for $2.4 billion, using part of the €4 billion it raised from a recently completed sale of T-Mobile Netherlands.

Deutsche Telekom agreed a deal with SoftBank in 2020 covering various steps regarding ownership of the US business, including a move in 2021 to increase its stake to 46.7 per cent by acquiring 45 million T-Mobile shares from the Japanese company.

The call option deal granted Deutsche Telekom provision to acquire up to 101 million T-Mobile shares by June 2024.

In return, SoftBank received 225 million new shares in Deutsche Telekom, giving the Japanese player a 4.5 per cent stake in the German operator.