Telekom and Virgin said near Settlement on Joint Venture

Deutsche Telekom AG and the Virgin Group Ltd. are close to settling a legal dispute over the Virgin Mobile joint venture, according to a report in the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph. The report suggested that an out-of-court settlement between the two telecommunications giants could lead to a €1.47 billion ($1.6 billion) share sale by Virgin Mobile next spring. The paper reported that Telekom's T-Mobile unit is likely to swap part of its 50 percent stake in Virgin Mobile for improved terms for carrying the venture's calls on its network.