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

To: MrGreenJeans who wrote (2037)	10/24/1999 4:00:00 PM
From: MrGreenJeans	Respond to of 3175

FOCUS-Name change, bid talk surround Mannesmann (Wraps weekend stories in British newspapers) By Paul Casciato LONDON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Weekend speculation of a bid from British-based mobile phone group Vodafone Airtouch Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: VOD.L) and talk of a name change for German telecoms firm Mannesmann AG filled British newspapers on Sunday. Britain's Sunday Business newspaper reported Mannesmann was planning to rename itself Orange AG, after making a 19.8 billion pound ($33.02 billion) agreed bid for the UK mobile phone firm Orange Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: ORA.L) and said the company would list its shares on the London and New York stock exchanges. Mannesmann could not be immediately reached for comment and and a spokesman for Orange said it had no comment. The Sunday Telegraph also reported on the Vodafone- Mannesmann saga, saying that Mannesmann bondholders were upset the German company would be taking on more debt with a successful bid for Orange. The Telegraph said bondholders were taking legal advice to discover whether they could block the acquisition, claiming Mannesmann gave a commitment not to take on any more debt when it issued a recent bond. Further speculation appeared in the Observer newspaper on Sunday, which reported that Vodafone was watching the bid with interest and that a Mannesmann-Orange tie-up would threaten Vodafone's partnerships with Mannesmann in Italy, France and Germany. Mannesmann told Reuters on Saturday it had received no indications of a bid from Vodafone. It was responding to a report in the Saturday edition of the Financial Times newspaper, which said Vodafone, the world's biggest cellphone group, was mulling a hostile bid for Mannesmann. A Vodafone spokesman told Reuters on Sunday that he could not comment on the report, saying it was speculation stirred up by the Mannesmann takeover bid for Orange. However, the Financial Times story on Saturday said Vodafone chief executive Chris Gent had been hoping to persuade Mannesmann to merge with Vodafone and that the Mannesmann bid for Orange was a stinging rebuke. VODAFONE APPROACHED FRANCE TELECOM Britain's Sunday Times newspaper also reported that Vodafone is believed to have approached France Telecom SA to ask whether the French firm would commit to buying Orange if Vodafone launched a bid for Mannesmann. Vodafone's board was considering appealing above the head of Mannesmann's management and making the case for a merger direct to its shareholders, the Financial Times said on Saturday. Vodafone has made no definite decision and may still balk at an assault given the difficulty of mounting unsolicited bids in Germany, the FT said. The company believes it does not need to rush out an offer and could wait several weeks or even months before moving, the Financial Times said. Mannesmann's bid for Orange, if successful, would create a new pan-European heavyweight and highlights a wave of consolidation sweeping the industry. Analysts said the bid threw down the gauntlet to Vodafone, but the German group's chief executive Klaus Esser insisted at the time that the British-based giant remained a partner. ``They are our closest allies,' Esser told Reuters last week. The Observer also added to bid speculation in the telecoms sector, by reporting that French utility company Vivendi SA is gearing up to bid for a third generation mobile phone licence in the UK after losing out on a bid for Orange. Vivendi is attempting to become Europe's biggest multi-media concern. The British government will grant five such licenses next spring allowing successful bidders to offer Internet and video services through mobile handsets, opening up huge electronic commerce possibilities. ($1 equals .5996 Pound)