British Telecom on Monday said it was in exclusive talks to purchase mobile operator EE for £12.5 billion ($19.6 billion, 15.7 billion euros).
"BT Group plc announces that... it has entered into an exclusivity agreement with Deutsche Telekom and Orange in relation to BT's possible acquisition of all of their UK mobile business, EE," said a statement that gave "a purchase price of £12.5 billion".