It is rumored that AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) are doing the groundwork for a possible takeover of Vodafone Group Plc (VOD) next year, and working out the strategy for a complex buy of Europe’s largest Telecom operator.
While there has been no formal talk between the two companies on the deal AT and T executives have been working hard to get a list of Vodafone assets that they would keep after purchasing the company and finding out suitable buyers for the rest of the assets. This was revealed by people who knew about AT and Ts interest in the deal but refused to be identified. In the alternative of the deal not going through AT and T continues to be interested in UK telecom company EE.
Though it is forming a plan for Vodafone’s operations In Europe, where adoption of mobile broadband services have been poor compared to the US. This would not be the first attempt of AT and T to combine the two companies, as the merger would create the biggest telecom company in respect to sales.
Earlier AT and t had approached Verizon if it was willing to take over its wireless JV America MovilSAB while it would buy Vodafone’s European operations. The deal was rejected by Verizon as it was complex and it would slow down its own purchase of the 45 per cent stake that Vodafone held in Verizon Wireless.
The combination of AT and Vodafone would create a telecom player that has interests all across the Globe and a market capitalization which would exceed $250 billion. The merged company would have a subscriber base that would exceed 500 million wireless subscribers and would be in a position to challenge Google and Apple while negotiating subsidies on handsets.
