BT found no surprises in EE books - Manager Magazin

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Talks between BT and the owners of EE about the potential acquisition of the UK mobile operator are progressing well as due diligence so far has not revealed any surprises, German Manager Magazine reported on Wednesday. Citing Deutsche Telekom sources, the magazine said that BT and the German company are as part of the negotiations also discussing partnerships between their enterprise businesses and in procurement. Deutsche Telekom and Orange each own 50 percent of EE since merging their Orange and T-Mobile UK units in 2010. BT shares extended gains and were up 1.8 percent by 1110 GMT, while Deutsche Telekom shares were up 0.2 percent. Traders cited the magazine report as the reason for the BT share move. Deutsche Telekom declined to comment. BT was not immediatley available to comment. BT said last month it had entered exclusive talks with the owners of EE for a potential 12.5 billion-pound ($18.9 billion) acquisition deal to give the former UK state telecoms firm the top position in mobile as well as fixed-line broadband services. If completed, BT will pay for EE with a roughly 50:50 ratio of cash and shares for a combined value of 12.5 billion pounds, although Deutsche Telekom will get a 12 percent stake in BT and the right to appoint one board member while France's Orange will get more cash and only a 4 percent stake in BT. Deutsche Telekom's Chief Executive Tim Hoettges told Reuters last month that he expected that talks could be completed this quarter. ($1 = 0.6610 pounds) (Reporting by Harro ten Wolde and Peter Maushagen in Frankfurt and Atul Prakash and Francesco Canepa in London; Editing by Georgina Prodhan)