Copying and distributing are prohibited without permission of the publisher
Telefónica bids $7.94bn for Vivo stake
30 June 2010
Telefónica has added $1bn to the price but Portugal Telecom still says no
Read more:
Telefónica
Brazil
Vivo
Portugal Telecom
Brasilcel
PT
Telefónica has placed its bid of $7.94 billion for Portugal Telecom’s stake in Brazilian mobile market leader, Vivo Participacioes. The company’s previous offer of $6.96 billion was rejected by PT’s board.
PT’s senior management has also rejected Telefónica’s increased bid for Vivo. Telefónica is seeking to merge Vivo with its Brazilian fixed line unit Telesp. Telefónica requires a majority approval to win its bid for Brasilcel, the company through which it and PT control Vivo.
Foreign investors in PT include Brandes Investment Partners and Deutsche Bank. Telefonica, which previously held a 10% stake in PT, has sold all but 2% of that.
Financial adviser Collins Stewart drily commented: “Our perception is that this is as good as it’s going to get for Portugal Telecom — and as bad as it can get for Telefónica shareholders, who herein transfer much of any synergy value to PT shareholders. The odds of PT shareholder approval of the bid, we believe, have gone up dramatically.”
Vivo had 30.3% of Brazil’s 183 million mobile subscriptions at the end of May 2010. GTB