Deutsche Telekom is looking for an asset swap deal with any would-be bidder for T-Mobile UK, its UK unit, to cushion the blow of pulling out of a big market.
Two people familiar with the German telecoms operator said that executives saw a swap for an asset in another country as the "preferred option" to either selling the business or merging it with a UK rival. But they warned that the unwillingness of a would-be bidder to part with another asset and the complexity of dealing with regulators in two countries could make this "dream deal" the most difficult to clinch.
