(Telecompaper) KPN has agreed to sell its German mobile operator E-Plus to Telefonica for EUR 5 billion in cash and a 17.6 percent stake in Telefonica Deutschland. The deal will make Telefonica the largest mobile operator in Germany in terms of subscriber numbers and consolidate the market to three mobile networks. KPN will use the cash to strengthen its balance sheet, allowing it to resume dividend payments in 2014, and refocus on its home market the Netherlands and growth in Belgium. Telefonica expects synergies of EUR 5.0-5.5 billion from the merger. The transaction values E-Plus at a total EUR 8.1 billion, equal to 9.0x the company's estimated 2013 EBITDA. It remains subject to approval by KPN and Telefonica Deutschland shareholders as well as the German regulator. Telefonica Deutschland will finance the cash component of the transaction through a rights offering fully underwritten by Telefonica SA.