MetroPCS board ok's merger with T-Mobile USA: report

The board of MetroPCS has approved to merge with Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA unit, German newspaper Financial Times Deutschland said on its website on Wednesday, citing unidentified people familiar with the process.

According to the newspaper the two plan to list the new entity, in which Deutsche Telekom will hold a 74 percent stake and MetroPCS 26 percent.

MetroPCS will also receive $1.5 billion in cash, Financial Times Deutschland said.

Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS could not immediately be reached for comment.

Deutsche Telekom announced on Tuesday it is in talks to merge its T-Mobile USA unit with smaller rival MetroPCS, in a move that could pave the way for the German company to eventually exit the U.S. wireless market.

(Reporting by Harro ten Wolde in Frankfurt and Liana Baker in New York)