Vodafone throws cold water on T-Mobile deal
Posted by Geoff Slaughter - 03/08/09 at 10:08 am
Vodafone, widely reported to favour market consolidation in the UK has signalled that it will not be making a move for its beleagured German competitor, T-Mobile. At it's 25th annual general meeting, Vodafone's chairman, Sir John Bond stated that "there is no sales process for T-Mobile" a move thought to quell growing UK shareholder concerns about another expensive and complex acquisition by the mobile network giant. Vodafone is no new-comer to huge corporate deals, securing approval for the Mannesmann takeover in April 2000 for £112bn, proving to be the largest corporate merger in recorded history at that time.
T-Mobile's parent company Deutsche Telekom is thought to be under increasing pressure from it's investor base to dispose of the UK retail business amid concerns that it was sturggling to cope in the current economic downturn.