More on a German Orange and other stuff

I have had a lot of enquiries from loyal Betaville readers in recent weeks about Orange since I published my German Orange article back in June. In case you don't remember, here is a link to the article: http://betaville123.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/a-german-orange.html

Anyway, I am reliably informed that Deutsche Telekom was waiting for the sale of its T-Mobile USA stake to be agreed before it could progress with an Orange tie-up.

But now that the Sprint has said it has decided against a pursuing a $20 billion plus takeover of T-Mobile USA, it would appear Deutsche Telekom has put the Orange plan on the back burner.

I guess the Franco-German telecoms mega merger could be revived if France's Illiad, run by the maverick billionaire Xavier Niel, comes up with a decent offer for T-Mobile USA but the likelihood of that happening is low.

Elsewhere, it's interesting to see Japanese consulting firm Nippon Kei trumping Arcadis's bid for Hyder Consulting with a £268 million takeover offer for the London-listed business.

I have been told Arcadis was seen by bankers as a potential bidder for Parsons Brinckerhoff, the engineering and design business that is being sold by construction giant Balfour Beatty.

So, I wonder whether Arcadis will attempt to (re-?) enter the Parsons Brinckerhoff auction if it loses out to Nippon Kei in the Hyder Consulting takeover tussle?

FTSE 250-listed WS Atkins and WSP - which earlier this year tried to buy Sweett Group - are currently the main protagonists in the Parsons Brinckerhoff auction, according to The Sunday Telegraph. 

Here is a link to the The Sunday Telegraph article:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/11008072/Atkins-circles-1bn-unit-at-centre-of-Balfour-Carillion-row.html