vodafone group plc (VODE) Snapshot

Vodafone Group Public Limited Company (LSE:VOD) raised its preliminary offer to buy Kabel Deutschland Holding AG (DB:KD8) to about €7.5 billion to enter talks, said people familiar with the bid. Kabel Deutschland’s management, led by Chief Executive Officer Adrian von Hammerstein, may favor Vodafone’s bid because it is all cash and may have better chances of being approved by Germany’s Federal Cartel Office. During the week ending June 21, 2013, Vodafone told Kabel Deutschland it would be willing to pay €85 a share, compared with the offer of €80 to €82 which was initially rejected by Kabel, said the people, who asked not to be named because talks are private. Vodafone is now in discussions with Kabel Deutschland and studying its books before it presents an official offer in the coming weeks, they said. The new proposal may lay the groundwork for a bidding war with John Malone’s Liberty Global plc (NasdaqGS:LBTY.A), which made its own preliminary offer that also was said to be valued at €85 a share. Share price of Kabel Deutschland advanced 3.7% to €85.51 in Frankfurt on July 18, 2013. According to Bloomberg, representatives at Vodafone, Kabel Deutschland and Liberty declined to comment. Kabel Deutschland’s statement this week on Liberty’s preliminary offer didn’t disclose the price. Liberty’s offer of €85 was in shares and the company could inject its existing German cable assets, Unitymedia KabelBW GmbH, into Kabel Deutschland, which would remain a listed entity, one person said.

Vodafone Group Public Limited Company (LSE:VOD) is about to make a concrete takeover offer for Kabel Deutschland Holding AG (DB:KD8), in the next few days, Wirtschaftswoche reported citing investment bankers. Vodafone thus aims to first have a look at Kabel Deutschland's books and will then decide if an improved offer would be launched, the paper reported. According to investment bankers involved in the deal, the amount of Vodafone's offer depends on the potential synergies that could be generated, Wirtschaftswoche reported. Taking into account that Kabel market value has risen to above €7 billion, Vodafone would have to make an offer worth more than €10 billion, including €2.7 billion of debts.

Vodafone Group Public Limited Company (LSE:VOD) is considering an eventual acquisition of FASTWEB S.p.A. to expand its fixed-line and Internet assets, people familiar with the matter said. Vodafone added Fastweb, a unit of Swisscom AG (SWX:SCMN), to a list of potential takeover targets, said the people, declining to be identified as the deliberations are private. Vodafone made two informal approaches for Fastweb in 2011 and in 2013 that were rejected by Swisscom, two of the people said. Vodafone spokesman Simon Gordon declined to comment on the Vodafone’s interest in Fastweb. Swisscom spokesman Carsten Roetz declined to comment on any possible transaction.