No, this is not the same deal involving Vodafone and Verizon Wireless. That deal was all about a partial buy-out of Vodafone’s share in Verizon Wireless by partner Verizon Communications. A couple days ago, the rumor mill spit out a little nugget – a little nugget that claimed Vodafone Group PLC was preparing to put in a $160 billion bid for Verizon Communications. Now, Verizon Communications is Vodafone’s partner in a little business we like to all Verizon Wireless. Last we heard, Verizon wanted to buy-back a small portion of Vodafone’s stake in Verizon Wireless. But, now, rumors allege that Vodafone may flip the tables and go for an all-out bid for Verizon Communications (confused yet?). The $160 billion bid would be a 32% premium on Verizon’s current $121 billion market value.
Anyway, the point is that Vodafone is denying these rumors of a possible buy-out of Verizon. The company released a statement, saying that “Vodafone wishes to make it clear that it has no plans to make such an offer.” Verizon won’t comment, Vodafone’s in denial. We love the drama.
But, that sure would be one doozy of a deal. Vodafone would get full control of Verizon Wireless, not to mention their partner, Verizon. Domestic telecom infrastructure controlled by a foreign company? That’d be interesting.
[Via: Yahoo News]