Telecom Italia Cancels Press Briefing on Deutsche Telekom Link
Rome, April 19 (Bloomberg) -- Telecom Italia SpA, Italy's biggest phone
company, said a press conference to announce a planned accord with
Deutsche Telekom AG won't happen tomorrow for ''logistical'' reasons. It
didn't set a new date.
Deutsche Telekom, Europe's No. 1 phone company, is planning to pay as
much as 100 billion euros ($107 billion) in stock for the Italian company,
beating Olivetti's offer of $65 billion in cash, bonds and stock, people
familiar with Telecom Italia said.
Both companies' boards met on the issue today, after Telecom Italia shares
were suspended for the whole day in Milan. Telecom Italia officials had said
that their chief executive, Franco Bernabe, and Deutsche Telekom CEO
Ron Sommer would unveil the accord in London at 10.30 a.m. tomorrow.
Telecom Italia, which confirmed yesterday it's in ''industrial alliance'' talks
with the German company, said that a new statement will be issued in about
an hour. Telecom Italia's board's meeting lasted some eight hours, ending
after 8 p.m.
The German alliance is the latest twist in a two-month battle between
Telecom Italia and Olivetti, which is seven times smaller than its prey.
Speculation that Telecom Italia would scramble to arrange a higher rival bid
intensified after Bernabe failed just more than a week ago to win shareholder
support for his own plan to thwart Olivetti's bid.
NYSE/AMEX delayed 20 min. NASDAQ delayed 15 min. |
