Vodafone is reported to have met Brazilian officials at the country’s embassy in London at the end of July to discuss potentially entering its mobile market.
The British telco is interested in acquiring an operator in the country and TIM Brasil is its…
Vodafone is reported to have met Brazilian officials at the country’s embassy in London at the end of July to discuss potentially entering its mobile market.
The British telco is interested in acquiring an operator in the country and TIM Brasil is its preferred target, according to local newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo referring to a report documenting the meeting.
TIM’s share price has jumped by 3.82% since the report and Telecom Italia, which holds 66.68% of the operator, shares rose 2.47% this morning. Meanwhile Vodafone’s stock has increased by 1%.
Vodafone declined to comment on the report.
The telco set foot in Brazil last year when it signed a non-equity agreement with Datora Telecom, which then rebranded its M2M and data business to Vodafone Brasil.
Earlier this year, Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao said he planned to add to its fixed-line assets in Europe, its mobile operations in emerging markets, and its enterprise business.
Vodafone has been making acquisitions following the disposal of its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless for US$130bn, which closed in February.
It bought Spanish cableco Ono for US$10bn, took full control of Vodafone India for US$1.7bn, acquired Italian M2M business Cobra Automotive Technologies for US$197m, and has made a joint takeover offer for Greek fixed-line operator Forthnet.
Vodafone’s convergence deals in Europe mirror what appears to be on the horizon in Brazil –TIM is reported to be battling Telefonica to buy Vivendi’s triple-play operator GVT for more than US$9bn.
