3GScottishUser
24th July 2005, 12:05 PM
from www.thebusisinessonline.com (24/07/2005):
UK-based mobile phone operator O2 is under intensive takeover speculation this weekend, with Germany's Deutsche Telekom and Spain's Telefonica both believed to be sizing up a bid.
Last month, The Business reported that Deutsche Telekom was running a ruler over O2. According to a City source, Spain's Telefonica may also be interested. According to the source, Telefonica's interest in buying O2 is prompted by last week's confirmation that France Telecom is trying to buy Spanish mobile operator Amena, which has a price tag of about 10bn ($12bn, £7bn), a deal exclusively predicted in The Business this month. The source said Telefonica was threatened by France Telecom's plan to extend its Orange mobile network into Spain and was considering a counter-consolidation move with an acquisition of O2.
O2 shares closed at an all-time high of 144.5p on Friday. But, according to German market sources, a takeover by Deutsche Telekom would be more logical. While being based in the UK, O2 has seen rapid market customer growth in Germany at the expense of rivals such as Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile. According to one German analyst, this is a sensitive matter for Deutsche Telekom, which does not like to be challenged so severely in its home market. O2 is taking market share in Germany as a result of its Genion services, which allows users to make high-quality low-cost mobile calls in their homes.
A source at O2 said the operator was not in active talks with either Deutsche Telekom or Telefonica but that it could do little to prevent deal brokering in the climate of industry consolidation.
http://thebusinessonline.com/Stories.aspx?StoryID=CCBB6232-EDFA-4740-89A6-60E1998B88AB&SectionID=F3B76EF0-7991-4389-B72E-D07EB5AA1CEE
UK-based mobile phone operator O2 is under intensive takeover speculation this weekend, with Germany's Deutsche Telekom and Spain's Telefonica both believed to be sizing up a bid.
Last month, The Business reported that Deutsche Telekom was running a ruler over O2. According to a City source, Spain's Telefonica may also be interested. According to the source, Telefonica's interest in buying O2 is prompted by last week's confirmation that France Telecom is trying to buy Spanish mobile operator Amena, which has a price tag of about 10bn ($12bn, £7bn), a deal exclusively predicted in The Business this month. The source said Telefonica was threatened by France Telecom's plan to extend its Orange mobile network into Spain and was considering a counter-consolidation move with an acquisition of O2.
O2 shares closed at an all-time high of 144.5p on Friday. But, according to German market sources, a takeover by Deutsche Telekom would be more logical. While being based in the UK, O2 has seen rapid market customer growth in Germany at the expense of rivals such as Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile. According to one German analyst, this is a sensitive matter for Deutsche Telekom, which does not like to be challenged so severely in its home market. O2 is taking market share in Germany as a result of its Genion services, which allows users to make high-quality low-cost mobile calls in their homes.
A source at O2 said the operator was not in active talks with either Deutsche Telekom or Telefonica but that it could do little to prevent deal brokering in the climate of industry consolidation.
http://thebusinessonline.com/Stories.aspx?StoryID=CCBB6232-EDFA-4740-89A6-60E1998B88AB&SectionID=F3B76EF0-7991-4389-B72E-D07EB5AA1CEE