By Lisa Burroughes, 16 December 1999 13:07
NEWS The battle to gain control of Airtel, Spain's second-largest mobile operator, took a new turn today as Vodafone Airtouch offered Spanish bank Banco Santander Central Hispano (BSCH) shares to the value of $7.2bn for its stake in the company. BSCH currently holds a 30.5 per cent stake in Airtel which is also considering offers from AT&T, BT and Deutsche Telekom. Vodafone has offered to swap BSCH's share for a 5.5 per cent stake in the Vodafone Airtouch and, according to Dow Jones Business News, the offer is likely to be accepted giving the mobile giant a total 51 per cent share in Airtel. BT had held talks with Airtel shareholders earlier in the year but it is yet to confirm whether it will put in a higher bid than Vodafone for BSCH's share in Airtel.
In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.
Log in or create your silicon.com account below