VOD.. Embattled German telecommunications company Mannesmann AG today confirmed that its top executive has met numerous times over the past two weeks with hostile suitor Vodafone AirTouch PLC (NYSE:VOD - news) in an attempt to negotiate a merger.
While the two sides have come close to a friendly partnership, they still argue about numbers, said Mannesmann supervisory board member Lars Berg, speaking to institutional investors at the second annual HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt Telecoms Conference in Duesseldorf.
Fabian Kirchmann, who works in the Mannesmann Investor Relations Department, told reporters at the conference that Mannesmann chief executive Klaus Esser and his Vodafone counterpart, Chris Gent, have been in contact numerous times recently.
The comments contradict those of Mannesmann's official spokesmen, who have insisted in recent days that Esser hasn't met with Gent. A report today in the German business magazine Wirtschaftwoche said the two executives met as recently as Tuesday.
A deal would be another step in the rapid consolidation of Europe's telecommunications industry. Global competition and technological advances have transformed Europe's once-staid telecommunications industry into one of the region's most dynamic sectors.
Britain-based Vodafone, the world's largest mobile phone company, has made an all-stock offer for Mannesmann valued at $172.3 billion, the largest hostile takeover bid ever. The figure was driven up today by a 6.8 percent surge to $6.20 in Vodafone's share price as investors grew more confident the offer would succeed.
At its current price, the offer values Mannesmann at more than at more than 320 euros, or about $313.60 a share, closing in on the 350 euro-per-share figure Esser has previously said would be a fair price for the company. Mannesmann shareholders have until Monday to decide whether to accept the offer and sell their shares to Vodafone.
Wirtschaftswoche reported that Esser is beginning to listen to the advice of major shareholders, who are pushing him to sit down and work out a deal with Vodafone.
DaimlerChrysler Chairman Juergen Schrempp, who sits on Mannesmann's 20-member supervisory board, is reportedly among those now leaning on Esser to reach a compromise with Vodaphone.
Vodafone has consistently said it was open to discussions, but that it would stop short of giving Mannesmann shareholders a stake worth more than 50 percent of the final merged company. Under the current offer, Mannesmann would own 47.2 percent./. |
