The next episode in the Vivo drama is here. This time we have Portugal Telecom (PT) considering Telefonica’s increased bid of 6.5 billion EUR for Brazil’s Vivo. Actually, the Spanish group wants to buy out PT’s stake in Brasilcel, which is jointly owned by the two companies and which controls Vivo. If everything goes as planned, Telefonica will end up as a sole owner of Vivo and eventually integrate the mobile operator with its underperforming Brazilian fixed-line arm – Telesp.
All we know at present is that Portugal Telecom’s key executives — including chairman, CEO and CFO — will meet to discuss the increased bid “until the shareholder’s meeting takes place.” PT’s shareholder will be the one deciding the future of Vivo and eventually impact the future of mobile communications in Brazil (Vivo is the country’s biggest mobile operator).
Earlier, there were speculations something like this could happen as Vivo has “strategic value” for Telefonica and the company may be willing to pour out additional money on top of its original 5.7 billion EUR bid. It seems the rumors were true and soon enough we’ll see this drama coming to an end. Stay tuned as we bring you more. 😉
[Via: MobileBusinessBriefing]