France Telecom nears MobilCom deal.

Byline: Brian Cattell

LONDON -- Embattled France Telecom SA is edging closer to a deal to restructure [Euro]4.7 billion ($4.3 billion) of debt at its German subsidiary, MobilCom AG, but has not yet decided whether it would then take full control of the company.

The Paris-based phone giant, which is struggling to reduce its own debt burden of about [Euro]61 billion, is close to reaching an agreement on the restructuring with MobilCom's four main creditor banks but must still sell the deal to 13 other banks in the German company's lending syndicate.

The four main banks are Deutsche Bank AG, Merrill Lynch & Co., ABN Amro Holding NV and Societe …