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

To: MrGreenJeans who wrote (2225)	12/20/1999 3:34:00 PM
From: David Wiggins	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3175

Vodafone Makes Formal Takeover Bid LONDON (AP) - The clock began ticking today on the largest takeover bid in history when Vodafone AirTouch PLC (NYSE:VOD - news) began its formal offer for shares in Germany's Mannesmann AG. Vodafone, the world's No. 1 mobile phone company, gave Mannesmann shareholders until Feb. 7 to accept its offer of $258.62 for each Mannesmann share. Vodafone's bid values Mannesmann alone at $95 billion, based on Vodafone's closing prices of 301 pence ($4.82) per share. Together with Orange PLC (NasdaqNM:ORNGY - news), a British mobile phone firm recently purchased by Mannesmann, the total offer is worth $127 billion. Executives from Vodafone and Mannesmann have spent much of the month competing for the loyalties of shareholders in the German conglomerate. Britain's Vodafone promises that mobile communications alone offer the best way to profit from the frenetic growth in Europe's telecommunications market. Mannesmann believes that a fixed-line business will continue to be vital, together with wireless operations. Although Mannesmann chairman Klaus Esser has not ruled out an amicable settlement, he insists that Vodafone's offer is far less than Mannesmann's potential value. Esser said earlier this month that each Mannesmann share is worth $357. If successful under current terms, the Vodafone's bid would be the biggest takeover bid in history, topping MCI WorldCom Inc (NasdaqNM:WCOM - news).'s $115 billion bid for Sprint Corp (NYSE:FON - news). That acquisition still awaits approval by U.S. regulators. The battle for control of Mannesmann has outraged many Germans, for whom hostile takeovers are a rarity. Political leaders, including German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, have weighed in against Vodafone's bid.