Good news on Orange/Sonera:
ragingbull.com
Good news on Orange/Sonera:
(Ubinetics has a sole source supplier contract to Orange for GPRS. If successful, an Orange acquisition of Sonera will increase Orange sell through by 50% - here come dos GPRS phones!)
Today's Top Stories
Sonera on Orange hit list
By Paul de Bendern, Reuters
26 June 2000
Shares in Finnish telecom operator Sonera Corp, a pioneer in mobile Internet services, soared on Monday after a report it was a target of Hans Snook, boss of UK telecoms firm Orange.
On Monday, Britain's Times newspaper, which did not cite sources, said Sonera was the prime target of Snook, chief executive of Orange, which was acquired by France Telecom earlier this year.
Sonera is seen as an enticing target for Europe's leading mobile phone operators who want its expertise in the mobile Internet area, which is seen as key to future success for these companies as Europe moves to third generation (3G) mobile networks that will provide advanced mobile services for subscribers.
The Times said Snook and France Telecom Chairman Michel Bon had met the management of Sonera - with a market capitalisation of over 40 billion euros ($37.28 billion) - to discuss a possible takeover of the Finnish operator.
France Telecom and Sonera declined to comment.
"Many players are talking to each other," said Sonera spokesman Samppa Seppala. "We are investigating various alternatives, and Europe is of course our strongest area."
At 0845 Sonera shares were off earlier gains of almost eight percent, trading up 5.5 percent at 53.99 euros in a negative market, but still far below its life-high of 97 which was set in early March before falling along with other telecoms. But the share has doubled since its 1999 average trading price of 26.55.
Sonera was seen helped by the Times report and Sonera CEO-designate Kaj-Erik Relander's comments last week. Another broker said interest was also heightened by the start of an IPO of shares in Sonera's Turkish associate Turkcell. Sonera is selling 10 percent of its Turkcell stock.
SONERA SAYS DEAL UNLIKELY BEFORE YEAR-END
On Friday, Relander told Reuters Sonera planned to take part in the rapidly consolidating telecoms industry but that a merger transaction was unlikely to happen by the end of this year.
"We could certainly get into a serious phase (of talks) by the end of the year," Relander said.
"It is very, very early to say there would be a transaction by the end of the year. I doubt it, but if things proceed well I don't see why it couldn't happen."
Relander said the firm had talked to the world's top-10 mobile phone groups about consolidation, but Sonera was not for sale.
Sonera has been rumoured to have been approached by Spanish Telefonica, France Telecom, Dutch KPN Telecom NV and Vodafone AirTouch.
Relander has said Finland was too small for Sonera, as rivals in the Nordic region are also finding with their markets.
This was highlighted on Friday when Swedish telecoms operator Telia made a surprise $2.6 billion bid for Norwegian mobile phone operator NetCom.
Sonera aims to be a global player in mobile telecom services and supporting technology and would look for partners in these areas. Sonera's mobile Web assets include the popular Zed portal and the data encryption unit SmartTrust.
A sale of Sonera was made easier last week when parliament authorised the government to sell the state's entire stake in Sonera, which currently stands at 53.3 percent.
(Additional reporting by John Acher in Helsinki) |
