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

To: MrGreenJeans who wrote (2479)	2/2/2000 9:13:00 PM
From: MrGreenJeans	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3175

Vodafone near to securing telecoms takeover Financial Times 2/3 By Peter Thal Larsen in London, Ralph Atkins in Dsseldorf and David Owen in Paris Vodafone AirTouch and Mannesmann were in talks on Wednesday night over an agreement that could lead to the UK mobile telecoms group securing the backing of the German group for its takeover bid. Chris Gent, Vodafone chief executive, last night flew to Dsseldorf, home to Mannesmann's head office. He was understood to be meeting Klaus Esser, his counterpart at the German telecoms and engineering group, to discuss the terms of the deal. Mannesmann's supervisory board is expected to meet in Dsseldorf on Thursday - the third time it has met this week. Although the meeting was described on Wednesday as an opportunity to update board members on the state of the bid battle, it could be an opportunity formally to approve the deal. Signs that Mannesmann was ready to talk came amid a growing belief among investors in Europe and the US that Vodafone's offer was likely to succeed. The UK group's tender offer is officially due to close on Monday. Shares in Vodafone rose 25.5 to 385«p, lifting the value of its offer to E344 for each Mannesmann share and taking the value of its bid to E178bn. Mannesmann shares closed up almost 10 per cent at a record E325. Signs that the three-month takeover battle was reaching its final stages came after Vodafone moved to cut off yet another deal which Mannesmann had been discussing in an attempt to retain its independence. It emerged on Wednesday that Vodafone and Vivendi, the French group with which it has an internet partnership, are in talks to acquire a stake in AOL Europe, the internet service provider owned by America Online and Bertelsmann of Germany. Vodafone and Vivendi are understood to be talking to Bertelsmann about taking over all or part of its shareholding in the venture. The deal would allow Vodafone-Vivendi to extend their pan-European internet portal to AOL Europe's customers.