Paulson & Co may oppose the proposed merger of T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS, the fourth- and fifth-largest mobile operators in the US, respectively. The hedge fund is the largest shareholder in MetroPCS with an 8.7 per cent stake.

In a statement, Paulson said the new company “has too much debt, the interest rate on Deutsche Telekom’s debt financing is too high, and the exchange ratio is too low for PCS stockholders”.

However, the hedge fund is withholding its judgement on the deal until it has a sight of the final proxy statement, it said. Then it will decide whether to vote for or against the proposed merger.

The merger is already facing definite opposition from another leading shareholder. P Schoenfeld Asset Management (PSAM), which owns 7.5 million MetroPCS shares or around a two per cent stake, said last week it intends voting against the transaction because MetroPCS would do better as a standalone company which retained the opportunity to look at alternative transactions.

PSAM is on a drive to recruit other sceptical shareholders to oppose the deal. The US firm is pressing to see the MetroPCS books so it can share details of the proposed deal with other shareholders.

Meanwhile Deutsche Telekom last week reaffirmed its commitment to completing the deal. It argued shareholders would benefit from the merger because the new entity offered expanded scale, spectrum and financial resources.