AT&T may bid to acquire Vodafone’s remaining assets should the sale of the British telco’s 45% stake in Verizon Wireless to Verizon Communications go through.
Meanwhile news of a Verizon board meeting scheduled to take place next week to discuss the…
AT&T may bid to acquire Vodafone’s remaining assets should the sale of the British telco’s 45% stake in Verizon Wireless to Verizon Communications go through.
Meanwhile news of a Verizon board meeting scheduled to take place next week to discuss the situation has resulted in speculation that talks are at an advanced stage and could result in an agreement within days.
AT&T would examine Vodafone’s remaining businesses after a sale but would be deterred if the UK-listed operator pursued expansion in cable and fixed-line, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
Bernstein Research senior analyst Robin Bienenstock believes AT&T could pay US$80bn for Vodafone minus its Verizon Wireless stake, which Vodafone hopes it could sell for up to US$130bn.
AT&T has publicly indicated it is looking at making acquisitions in Europe. In mid-June it emerged that the Dallas, Texas-based telco had approached the Spanish government regarding a possible acquisition of Telefonica. It has previously been linked with EE and KPN.
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson reportedly visited European telecoms commissioner Neelie Kroes to gain an understanding of the regulatory situation as she looks to unify regulation across the European Union and move towards a single market for telecoms.
Stephenson has previously said it is “inevitable” the company will look abroad to grow.
Vodafone could spend free cash on Liberty
Meanwhile Macquarie analyst Amy Yong suggested that rather than being sold, Vodafone could invest the cash from a sale of Verizon Wireless to acquire Liberty Global.
“Vodafone is clearly interested in cable assets, as seen by its recent bid for German operator Kabel Deutschland for US$10.1bn,” Yong said in a note.
“Given the need for scale and scarcity of European cable assets, there are likely significant synergies in a Vodafone-Liberty Global combination.”
Since news of Verizon Communication’s renewed interest in Vodafone’s US holdings broke Liberty’s share price has risen 3.6%.
Liberty Global has a market cap of US$30.73bn.
