Mannesmann, Vodafone Moving Closer on Price, Board Member Says
By Sonja Heizmann
Mannesmann, Vodafone Moving Closer on Price, Board Member Says
Dusseldorf, Germany, Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Mannesmann AG and
Vodafone Airtouch Plc are nearing an agreement on price in
Vodafone's bid for Germany's largest mobile phone company, though
remain at odds over strategy, a Mannesmann board member said.
``We've been in talks with the other side all of last year
and even recently,' Lars Berg, head of the German company's
telecommunications, said during an HSBC-sponsored conference in
Dusseldorf. ``We've come closer in discussions of figures.'
Vodafone last year began a $184.7 billion hostile bid for
Mannesmann, offering 53.7 Vodafone shares for each Mannesmann
share. The two have been locked in battle as Mannesmann maintains
the bid is too low and its strategy of integrated traditional
phone, cellular and Internet service is superior to Vodafone's
cellular focus.
A weekend announcement that French partner Vivendi SA was
discussing merging with Vodafone further ``highlighted' the
difference in strategies between Vodafone and Mannesmann, Berg
said.
``We were fully on our way to creating a merger with
Vivendi,' he said. ``It's a very destructive deal. It would
destroy the integration approach that Mannesmann has successfully
followed.'
Berg said a link with AOL Europe is a ``possibility' as
Mannesmann strives to beef up its Internet activities.
Mannesmann shares rose 5 percent, or 14.7 euros, to 311 while
Vodafone climbed 7.5 percent, or 27p, to 387. |
