Deutsche Telekom activated an option to buy an additional 6.7 million shares in subsidiary T-Mobile US from SoftBank Group at well below current stock market value, under the terms of a deal signed in the wake of the merger of the US operator with Sprint in 2020.

In a statement the German company highlighted the shares cost $99.5 dollars each, representing a 45 per cent discount on the closing market price for T-Mobile US shares on Friday (7 June). In total the new shares cost around $667 million.

The acquisition concludes the purchase of fixed price options agreed between SoftBank and Deutsche Telekom in June 2020, two months after the completion of the merger of T-Mobile US with SoftBank-owned Sprint.

Deutsche Telekom noted the move “solidified” its majority stake in the US player and represented around 0.6 per cent of outstanding shares, adding it had continuously increased its holding “at favourable conditions” thanks to the fixed price options.

Investment website MarketScreener puts Deutsche Telekom’s stake at the US operator at 56.7 per cent, with SoftBank’s investment arm the second largest individual shareholder at 4.8 per cent.

The German company achieved its aim of becoming the majority shareholder in the US operator in April 2023.