Deutsche Telekom Risks U.S. Exit Without Boost

Unless Deutsche Telekom AG is prepared to abandon another attempt to exit the U.S. market, it has to sweeten the terms of its $33 billion deal to combine T- Mobile USA with MetroPCS Communications. To win support from MetroPCS shareholders in an April 12 vote, New Street Research LLP says Deutsche Telekom may have to cut the debt component by $6 billion, while Nomura Holdings Inc. says MetroPCS owners want a bigger equity stake. While Deutsche Telekom could choose to walk away, that would represent another failed attempt to exit the business, following a 2011 agreement to sell T-Mobile to AT&T that regulators blocked.