Shares of Deutsche Telekom slipped 1.5% on Wednesday after reports of ​potential merger talks between the German telecoms conglomerate and U.S.-based T-Mobile US, which would ⁠be the largest ever ⁠public merger if it goes ahead.

Details of the early-stage talks were reported by ​Reuters, which cited two sources familiar with ​the matter on Wednesday. Telekom, which already holds a majority 53% stake in T-Mobile, did not respond to a request for comment.

Bloomberg first reported the potential deal.

Any combination, which would need buy-in from Germany, which is Deutsche Telekom's single biggest shareholder, would create the world's biggest wireless operator by market capitalization, with operations spanning the United States ⁠and ⁠Europe.

T-Mobile's market value is about $218 billion, while Deutsche Telekom has a valuation of about $166 billion.

While the discussions are at a preliminary stage, the proposed idea is for a new holding company that would make a stock bid for both companies, owned by existing investors, and then list in the ⁠U.S. and Europe, Bloomberg said.

The German stake is roughly split between the government and state-lender KfW, whose stake could be ​diluted in a merged entity.

The deal would create a ​giant firm with potentially greater liquidity, which could also be useful for future dealmaking, according to ⁠a ‌person ‌familiar with the matter, speaking on condition ⁠of anonymity because the matter ‌is private.

T-Mobile's stock has lost a quarter of its ​value in the last year, ⁠while Deutsche Telekom's shares have ⁠lost 10%.