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New York • The pressure's on CEO John Legere to keep T-Mobile US on the comeback trail after a third suitor walked away in as many years.

Iliad scrapped its offer Monday to buy a majority stake in T-Mobile, joining Sprint and AT&T in failing to secure a takeover of the smallest of the four major U.S. wireless carriers. Board members of Deutsche Telekom, which owns two-thirds of T-Mobile, have been split over whether the German carrier should sell its only growing asset, people familiar with the matter said last month.

That's just fine with Legere, if his recent comments are any guide. In a profanity-laced tirade earlier this month, Legere said he was "sick and tired" of deal speculation. He also said there are a number of ways for T- Mobile to be a growing, profitable company without being acquired. He's been winning over customers so far, and for shareholders' sake, he'd better keep delivering.

"The company is doing extremely well so I can do whatever the f—- I want," Legere said, when asked about his relationship with Deutsche Telekom.

For now, Legere has numbers to back him up.

T-Mobile added 2.68 million monthly subscribers in the first half of the year, making it the fastest-growing U.S. wireless carrier, as its popular shared wireless plans without contracts lure customers and force other carriers to lower their prices. Legere has forecast that T-Mobile will surpass Sprint in total subscribers by the end of this year.

"They're doing a really nice job competing against the incumbent carriers right now," said Michael Bowen, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities. "Their offers are resonating with subscribers, and I think they're better off independent at this point."

Anne Marshall, a spokeswoman for T-Mobile, declined comment Monday after Iliad dropped its bid for 67 percent of T- Mobile, valuing the stock at $36 a share, including cost savings.

Iliad said Deutsche Telekom spurned the improved offer. Andreas Fuchs, a spokesman for Bonn-based Deutsche Telekom, declined immediate comment.

T-Mobile fell 2.5 percent to $26.92 at the close Monday in New York. Even with that decline and Sprint calling off merger talks in August, T-Mobile shares have risen 63 percent since Legere took the stock public in May 2013 through a merger with MetroPCS Communications. That's a bigger gain than Verizon Communications, AT&T or Sprint.

"Now that you've flushed out that M&A speculation, the stock is actually attractive now on fundamentals," Kevin Smithen, an analyst at Macquarie Securities USA, said in a phone interview Monday. "They're doing very, very well in the current environment."

T-Mobile has done a good job understanding what consumers are looking for, including more simplified pricing plans, said Smithen, who has the equivalent of a buy rating on the stock and expects it to reach $34.

In an Oct. 10 research note, Mike McCormack, an analyst with Jefferies Group, said T-Mobile's stock is worth at least $35, even without an acquisition.

"T-Mobile continues to deliver disproportional subscriber growth over larger peers," McCormack wrote, adding that momentum may accelerate into the fourth quarter thanks to Apple's new iPhone and the holiday season. "We expect T-Mobile to have ample runway for growth."

T-Mobile has projected that it will add 3 million to 3.5 million monthly subscribers this year. T-Mobile had record monthly customer gains in August and was adding four users for every one that left for Sprint during the third quarter, Legere said a month ago. In terms of total customers, including prepaid, T-Mobile had 51 million at the end of June, trailing Sprint's 55 million.

T-Mobile, based in Bellevue, Washington, recorded its first profit in five quarters at the end of June, getting a boost thanks to a $731 million gain from a spectrum transaction. Even without that one-time benefit, T-Mobile is projected to report third-quarter net income of $39 million, the average estimate of analysts compiled by Bloomberg.

Sales climbed 15 percent in the second quarter to $7.19 billion, the fastest rate of growth among the top four U.S. wireless companies.

Legere, speaking two weeks ago at a conference in Seattle, said his employees still have post-traumatic stress disorder from AT&T's failed attempt to buy the wireless carrier in 2011. While Legere said he has "a fiduciary obligation to shareholders to look at any and all offers," he then said "bulls—-." He said many companies would like to acquire T- Mobile.

Charlie Ergen, chairman of Dish Network, contacted Deutsche Telekom to say he is interested in a future acquisition of T-Mobile after a November spectrum auction, people with knowledge of the matter said in early September.

"They can create a lot of value for the equity holders in a long-term transaction by staying independent today," Macquarie's Smithen said. "Never say never, but we would be surprised if there were a bidder in the near term for T- Mobile."

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With assistance from bloomberg's Marie Mawad in Paris and Cornelius Rahn in Berlin.

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