EE's German and French owners are in talks to sell Britain's biggest mobile network operator to BT.

Fixed-line operator BT confirmed this week that it was in talks with both Telefonica's O2 and a rival operator about purchasing a mobile business.

EE, which is owned by Deutsche Telekom and Orange, was the other party, "a source familiar with the situation," said to Reuters.

Analysts now think that EE, which holds 33.8 percent of the British mobile market in terms of service revenue and is the clear leader in 4G mobile broadband services, could cost BT close to 10 billion pounds ($16 billion). Meanwhile O2 with a 26.2 percent market share could cost it around 9 billion pounds ($14 billion).

"Deutsche Telekom and Orange, the joint shareholders of EE, regularly analyse the development of the market in which EE operates, evaluating various strategic options which have the potential to create value for EE's shareholders and strengthen the market position of EE," the companies said, according to Reuters.

"As one of these options, Deutsche Telekom and Orange are in exploratory discussions with BT, although it is too early to state whether any transaction may occur."

Orange and Deutsche Telekom have reportedly looked into whether they should list EE on the stock market in the past.

O2 was demerged from a heavily indebted BT through a share flotation back in 2001. It was then purchased by Telefonica in early 2006.

BT's return to the mobile market would give the company a strong position as the UK consumer telecoms market converges with single operators offering "multi-play" packages of fixed line and mobile broadband and pay-TV services.

BT shares rose 2.3 percent after the news broke. EE did mention that it is too early to say whether any transaction could occur for sure.

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