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Technology Stocks : Vodafone-Airtouch (NYSE: VOD) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: gdichaz who wrote (1971)	9/25/1999 11:10:00 AM
From: MrGreenJeans	Respond to of 3175

Vodafone 'eyes German deal' From the Times of London 9/25 BY CHRIS AYRES SPECULATION that Vodafone AirTouch, the world's largest mobile phone company, is looking to buy the mobile phone assets of Mannesmann grew yesterday when the German conglomerate said that it is to spin-off its telecoms division. Analysts believe that Chris Gent, Vodafone's ambitious chief executive, has turned his full attention to a Mannesmann deal after the œ50 billion merger of Vodafone's US operations with those of Bell Atlantic. "Mannesmann will eventually be bought," one leading telecoms analyst said last night. "And there is a very good chance that it will be Chris Gent who buys it." It is estimated that Mannesmann's telecoms division is worth about œ40 billion. The European operations of Vodafone and Mannesmann would be a near-perfect fit. Significantly, it would lift Vodafone's stake in D2, one of Germany's leading mobile phone operators, from 35 per cent to 100 per cent. This is important because the German market is one of Europe's least developed. A deal with Mannesmann would also give Vodafone control of Italy's Omnitel and lift its stake in France's SFR network. Mr Gent has indicated that he will not make a hostile bid for the company. Sources say he would step in as a "white knight" if another bidder, potentially France Telecom, struck.