U.S.-traded shares of European telecommunications companies were mixed in Monday trading, with shares of Deutsche Telekom AG slipping after reports said the company is considering buying Sprint Nextel Corp.
Media reports said that Deutsche Telekom might buy Sprint in a deal that would combine DT's T-Mobile, the fourth-largest cell phone provider in the U.S., with Sprint's network, the third-largest. A combined company would be the largest in the nation, ahead of AT&T Inc.
American Depositary Receipts of Deutsche Telekom shares ticked down 14 cents to $17.97 in afternoon trading, but analysts said the company will probably not make an offer for Sprint.
Stifel Nicolaus analyst Blair Levin said two major factors work against the deal: questions about the auction of airwaves intended to be used for emergency communications, and concerns that Sprint's share price will keep falling.
ADRs, or American Depositary Receipts, are securities that allow U.S. investors to trade shares of companies based overseas.
Elsewhere in the sector, ADRs of Vodafone PLC of Britain lost 27 cents to $21.98.
Portugal Telecom SGPS SA gained 5 cents to $12.10.
LM Ericsson Telephone Co. of Sweden picked up 17 cents to $23.71.
Telefonica SA of Spain added 37 cents to $89.32.
Two Russian wireless companies declined, as Mobile TeleSystems OJSC fell 91 cents to $74.24 and Vimpel-Communications dipped 19 cents to $30.21.
The Bank of New York Europe ADR index wavered, rising 0.16 points to 180.20.
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