Vodafone presses ahead with buyout of Libertel
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The mobile phone operator Vodafone yesterday forged ahead with its plan to buy up the shares it does not already own in its Dutch unit Vodafone Libertel despite the management team of that business insisting the offer was too low.
Vodafone, which yesterday boosted its stake in Libertel to 82.4 per cent from 77.6 per cent by buying shares in the market, launched an offer at €11 a share – the same price it had flagged last month.
The group said that Libertel's management team, which has refused to recommend the deal, had agreed to co-operate in the "implementation and completion" of the offer but noted "they are of the opinion that the offer price does not adequately reflect the value of the shares".
Nevertheless, City analysts thought Vodafone would succeed in its efforts to buy up the rest of the business. "The group's reputation for driving a hard bargain should convince investors that this deal is the best they will be offered," analysts at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein said.
Vodafone said it planned to buy up shares in the market up to a maximum price of €11 a share. Its offer is conditional on it reaching or exceeding 95 per cent of Libertel's share capital and it hopes to complete the exercise by the end of March.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments