Comcast is reportedly showing interest in purchasing T-Mobile

Deutsche Telekom shares rose as much as 2.8 percent in Frankfurt after a German magazine reported that Comcast is interested in a deal with the company’s T-Mobile US unit.

Deutsche Telekom is holding discussions with multiple parties about T-Mobile, Manager Magazin said, citing unidentified sources. Though no decision has been made, Deutsche Telekom’s management prefers Comcast because it is financially stronger and could handle a complete takeover, it said.

A spokesman for Bonn-based Deutsche Telekom declined to comment. A representative for Comcast couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

T-Mobile shares rose as much as 3 percent in early trading, before the U.S. markets opened. T- Mobile, which is the fourth-largest U.S. mobile phone company, just behind Overland Park-based Sprint, is about 66 percent owned by Deutsche Telekom.

In April, Comcast dropped its bid to buy Time Warner Cable, which has since agreed to be acquired by Charter Communications for $55 billion. Owning T-Mobile would help Comcast offer TV, Internet, mobile and wireline service in one package — a “quadruple play” that peers in Europe have been moving toward.

Dish Network is continuing slow-moving talks to acquire T-Mobile, and those talks reportedly haven’t advanced substantially since last September.

This story was originally published June 17, 2015 at 9:48 AM with the headline "Comcast is reportedly showing interest in purchasing T-Mobile."