Paulson & Co. Intends To Vote For MetroPCS Deal

The largest shareholder in MetroPCS Communications Inc. (PCS), hedge fund Paulson & Co., intends to support a revised takeover offer from Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE.XE DTEGY), reversing opposition to the previous structure of the deal.

The fund, which owns about 9.9% of MetroPCS shares, had argued the previous deal's structure was unfair to shareholders and had intended to vote against the deal. Late Wednesday, Deutsche Telekom sweetened its offer prior to a planned Friday vote that was largely expected to fail. MetroPCS has scheduled a vote on the revised terms for April 24.

The revised terms lower the amount of debt transferred to the new company by $3.8 billion and cut the interest rate on that debt by half a percentage point. Paulson & Co. had previously made clear it would support a deal that improved on those terms.

On Thursday, the firm said the restructured offer is a "substantial improvement" and thanked Deutsche Telekom for making the changes.

"While Paulson needs to review the revised proxy statement before making a final decision, Paulson intends to vote for the merger as restructured," it said in a statement.

Under the deal, the German telecom company's U.S. unit, T-Mobile USA, would merge into the already public structure of MetroPCS, with Deutsche Telekom getting 74% of the company. MetroPCS shareholders will get the rest, along with $1.5 billion in cash, or about $4.09 a share.

Paulson had joined another hedge fund, P. Schoenfeld Asset Management, in opposing the deal. P. Schoenfeld Asset Management had filed a proxy to solicit other investors to join its position and said late Wednesday it was reviewing the new offer.

Write to Thomas Gryta at [e-mail]

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