Vodafone confirms €7.2bn Ono buy By Mary Lennighan, Total Telecom Monday 17 March 2014 U.K. mobile operator continues fixed-line push with Spanish cable acquisition; analyst predicts Italy, Netherlands could be next on Vodas list. After months of speculation, Vodafone on Monday confirmed that it will acquire Spanish cable operator Ono for €7.2 billion, continuing its push to build up fixed assets in Europe. The deal, which will see the mobile group acquire 100% of Onos share capital, is expected to close in the third quarter of this year, subject to regulatory and antitrust approvals. The combination of Vodafone and Ono creates a leading integrated communications provider in Spain and represents an attractive value creation opportunity for Vodafone, said Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao, in a statement. Demand for unified communications products and services has increased significantly over the last few years in Spain and this transaction – together with our fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) build programme – will accelerate our ability to offer best-in-class propositions in the Spanish market, he added. It is not only in Spain where Vodafone sees the value in adding cable or fixed broadband assets to its portfolio. Last year the telco acquired German cableco Kabel Deutschland for €7.7 billion and was linked with a possible takeover of Fastweb in Italy, although the latter came to nothing. And it is not only Vodafone looking to leave behind the mobile-only model. Late last week Vivendi entered into exclusive talks with French cable operator Numericable with a view to selling its SFR mobile business. Cable companies are also buying each other. U.S.-based Liberty Global bought U.K. cableco Virgin Media last year for $23.3 billion and in January brokered a €10 billion deal for Dutch operator Ziggo. Its a trend that looks set to continue. The market shows no sign of cooling down and we expect further transactions to emerge, said John Delaney, associate VP, mobility at IDC, on Monday. Delaney believes Vodafone may look again at Italy, where both Wind and Fastweb operate fixed-line businesses that could be attractive acquisition targets. However, he points out that a Wind buy would attract significant regulatory scrutiny, since it would reduce the number of mobile players in Italy to three from four, while Fastwebs owner Swisscom has so far shown little inclination to sell. Another possibility for Vodafone is the Netherlands, despite Ziggos acceptance of an offer from Liberty Global, Delaney said. That merger is currently being studied by antitrust regulators. If regulators block the deal, or if they impose conditions that make it less attractive, Ziggo could prove receptive to a new offer from Vodafone, Delaney said.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 08:14:31 +0000
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