Although it has publicly ruled out a bid in the short-term, USA based AT&T is reportedly still mulling a potential bid for Vodafone Group.
AT&T issued a statement earlier this week that it was not planning a takeover bid for the company. It was required to issue the statement by the London Stock Exchange, whose rules also conditionally forbid launching a takeover within six months of issuing a denial.
However, citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News said that AT&T is still weighing up such a takeover bid.
Although it is officially locked out of launching a hostile bid within six months, AT&T can still talk to Vodafone, and they could launch a friendly takeover or merger -- or AT&T could participate as a junior partner in a hostile bid lead by another company.
Bids of this nature tend to take months to arrange anyway, so even if AT&T is barred from bidding, it could still comfortably spend the next six months preparing the finances and legal options ready for when the deadline expires.
No comments:
Post a Comment