AT&T could still bid for Vodafone - FT's Lex

28th Jan 2014 14:45

It may be too early to call time on a potential bid by America's AT&T for British mobile operator Vodafone, according to an influential UK newspaper investment column.AT&T announced on Monday that it did not intend to make a bid for Vodafone after speculation in the British weekend press that it was working up a possible approach. The move bans it from making another bid for Vodafone for six months.Senior AT&T chiefs had approached European regulatory officials at the World Economic Forum in Davos to talk about how Brussels might view an approach, one report said.Britain's Takeover Panel told AT&T to make its intentions clear after Vodafone's shares rose 50% higher than their level at the start of last year.But Monday's announcement by AT&T should be "best viewed as a holding statement", according to the Financial Times' Lex Column.In any case, a bid by AT&T was unlikely before the summer because Vodafone had still to complete the planned sale of its stake in Verizon Wireless, Lex said.EU regulators also still have to decide whether to approve the proposed merger of the number three and number four mobile phone players in Germany, meaning the future shape of the European market remains uncertain.A Vodafone tie-up could benefit AT&T because European telecoms valuations are not high and the US market is getting more competitive, Lex said.But the column concluded: "Whatever the strategic plusses and minuses, investors should not read much into yesterday morning's terse announcement."Shares in Vodafone rose 0.11% to 223.8p in mid-afternoon trading in London.PW