New York activist hedge fund Elliott Management has built a sizable stake in German telco Deutsche Telekom, according to various reports.

Both the Financial Times and Bloomberg have reported that the investment fund has acquired a stake in the telco, while indicating that it plans to oppose a possible merger between Deutsche Telekom and its US carrier, T-Mobile.

Bloomberg reports that Elliott wants Deutsche Telekom to find alternative ways of driving value for shareholders, such as larger share buybacks, sources told the newswire.

It’s not clear exactly what size stake Elliott has built up in Deutsche Telekom, though under German securities rules, investors are required to disclose stakes that hit or exceed three percent of a company’s stock.

Elliott’s opposition to the potential merger of Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile is different from that of Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Hoettges, who reportedly wants to bring the two together.

It had been reported in April that Deutsche Telekom was considering a merger with T-Mobile. Both companies have been coy on those reports.

Deutsche Telekom previously regained its majority stake in T-Mobile back in 2023. The telco has had a stake in T-Mobile since 2001. The German giant’s stake in T-Mobile is currently 53 percent.

A merger between the two would rank as the largest-ever public M&A deal.