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

To: MrGreenJeans who wrote (2224)	12/20/1999 1:30:00 PM
From: MrGreenJeans	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3175

Klaus, We Are Coming to Get You! Vodafone to post Mannesmann bid on Thursday LONDON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - British cellphone giant Vodafone AirTouch Plc said on Monday it would post its offer document for Germany's Mannesmann AG on Thursday and that it would leave its record hostile bid open until February 7, 2000. Vodafone, which had been expected to post its formal tender offer before Christmas, said the offer was no longer conditional on clearance from European Commission competition regulators and noted that its takeover terms -- 53.7 Vodafone AirTouch shares for each Mannesmann share -- were final. Vodafone, the world's biggest cellphone group, launched an all-share bid for Mannesmann in November, which currently values its partner in Germany, Italy and France at around 134 billion euros ($135.2 billion), or 263 euros per share. Vodafone could have chosen to keep open its offer -- which will commence one day after the weighty 450-plus page document is published -- for a full 60 days. But the world's biggest mobile phone company said it wanted to bring the historic bid to a rapid conclusion so that it could move quickly to take full advantage of the opportunities available to the enlarged group. ``Our offer, which will be formally launched this Thursday, begins the process of creating Europe's leading telecoms company in mobile voice, data and Internet,' Vodafone's Chief Executive Chris Gent said in a brief statement. Urging Mannesmann investors to accept the offer, he added: ``We firmly believe it is in the best interests of Mannesmann shareholders, customers and employees and will continue to seek a recommendation from Mannesmann's management.' Vodafone, which has been canvassing top institutional investors for support, plans to hold an extraordinary shareholder meeting on January 24, 2000, to seek formal approval for a takeover which, if successful, will be the first by a foreign company on German soil. Stung into action by the German group's $32 billion bid for its domestic arch-rival Orange Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: ORA.L), Vodafone is battling to protect lucrative joint ventures in Germany and Italy -- D2 Mobilfunk and Onmitel -- which Mannesmann controls. The Duesseldorf-based concern's agreed bid for Orange in October confirmed Vodafone's fears that Mannesmann was setting out its own European agenda in a move that could leave the British-based group's Continental ambitions in tatters.