We’ve already talked about Telefonica’s plan to combine its Brazilian assets. The move involved tough negotiations with Portugal Telecom over Vivo, the country’s leading mobile operator that is co-owned by the two European operator groups. Portugal Telecom (PT) doesn’t like the idea, hence they’ve rejected an unsolicited 5.7 billion EUR ($7.65 billion) bid from Spain’s Telefonica for the stake in the company.
According to the Financial Times, Portugal Telecom said in a statement: “Vivo is an essential asset for PT’s strategy and the sale of this stake would go against PT’s long-term growth strategy.” Unsurprisingly, Portugal Telecom’s board had rejected the offer unanimously.
And in case you wonder, the bid involves PT’s 50% stake in Brasilcel, which is a holding company that controls 60% of Vivo.
Again, this isn’t the first time Portuguese have rejected the Spanish offer. In 2007, Telefonica offered 3 billion EUR to Portugal Telecom to buy its stake in Vivo.
[Via: MobileBusinessBriefing]