French telecom makes $15B offer for T-Mobile

French telecommunications company Iliad is has made an offer to purchase T-Mobile.

The Iliad confirmed the offer, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, in a statement Thursday.

{mosads}”The US mobile market is large and attractive,” the company said, adding that it has offered $15 billion for 56.6 percent of T-Mobile.

“T-Mobile US has successfully established a disruptive position, which in many ways, is similar to the one Iliad has built in France.”

The offer from Iliad comes as T-Mobile and Sprint are reportedly ironing out the details of Sprint’s $32 billion offer to buy T-Mobile, with an official proposal expected in the coming months.

Citing a source familiar with the discussions, the Wall Street Journal reported that the smaller “upstart” Iliad “is working with several banks to secure financing” it would need to buy T-Mobile, which has a higher market value.

While a deal to combine T-Mobile and Sprint would face tough regulatory scrutiny because it would bring the U.S. wireless market down from four major players to three, Iliad hopes its attempts to buy T-Mobile would be viewed more favorably because Iliad does not have a U.S. presence, according to the report.

One person told the Wall Street Journal that Iliad sees its bid for T-Mobile as a “one-time opportunity to enter the world’s-largest telecoms market.”

— This story was updated at 1:15 p.m.