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

To: MrGreenJeans who wrote (2051)	11/8/1999 1:36:00 PM
From: MrGreenJeans	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3175

Vodafone seeks Orange buyer-The Guardian David Teather Monday November 8, 1999 Vodafone-Airtouch, the world's largest mobile phone company, is holding talks with several potential buyers of Orange to clear the way for a œ45bn hostile bid for Mannesmann. The German company is in the process of acquiring the Orange and Vodafone's ability to pass on its British rival would be crucial to it winning regulatory approval for a takeover of Mannesmann. France Telecom, which failed in a bid to buy One2One earlier this year is seen as the obvious buyer of Orange. Advisers to Vodafone said yesterday, however, that a number of other potential buyers had ap proached including more than one US telecoms company. "Orange would not really be an obstacle to a Vodafone bid [for Mannesmann]," he said. Shares in Mannesmann, the telecoms and industrial concern, climbed 8% on Friday in anticipation of a bid from Vodafone. Mannesmann is a majority shareholder in Germany's largest mobile phone network D2 Mobilfunk and also owns Omnitel, the largest Italian operator. Its other cellular interests include a licence in Austria and participation in a French network. Chris Gent, Vodafone's chief executive, was said to be stung by the Mannesmann bid for Orange. The German group and Vodafone are partners in several European countries and the move appeared to break an unwritten alliance. Mannesmann's œ19bn acquisition of Orange agreed last month would also dislodge Vodafone from its top spot in Europe. Advisers said the "jury remains out" over whether or not to proceed with an attempted takeover of Mannesmann. A hostile approach would be fraught with difficulties, not least a curious shareholding structure which states that no Mannesmann investor can control more than 5% of votes. That rule expires next summer which has led some commentators that Vodafone would wait for its chance to strike. "A lot of people have worked bloody hard to find a way through the difficulties," the adviser said. Mannesmann's acquisition of Orange has drawn criticism from its shareholders who judge the price paid for the business as too high. Deutsche Telekom bought the much smaller One2One for œ8.4bn. Mannesmann's shareholding structure also means that the company does not need to seek approval from investors for the deal though its depressed share price had made their views clear enough. France Telecom has signalled its intent to build a presence in this country with its acquisition of a 25% stake in Britain's biggest cable company NTL earlier this year. It was France Telecom's backing which bankrolled NTL's takeover of the British residential cable assets of Cable & Wireless Communications. France Telecom chief executive Michel Bon recently said that he intended to bid for a third generation mobile phone licence in Britain through NTL. A takeover of Orange would enable France Telecom to win a third generation licence without the additional cost of building a network from scratch. Potential US buyers of Orange could include Bell Atlantic or MCI WorldCom.