BT Group Plc agreed to buy British mobile carrier EE Ltd for £12.5 billion ($19 billion) to create a wireless and broadband giant set to shake up the country's telecommunications industry.
Orange SA and Deutsche Telekom AG, the French and German owners of the four-year-old venture, will receive as much as £6.2 billion in cash and the remainder in new BT shares, Chief Financial Officer Tony Chanmugam said Thursday during a conference call. The combination will generate cost savings valued at about £3 billion after costs. The deal, which requires antitrust approval, is projected to be completed by March 2016, BT said.
