British telecommunications predator Vodafone AirTouch yesterday formally presented its €137 billion hostile bid for the German conglomerate Mannes mann. The offer is scheduled to open today, and run until February 7th.
Mannesmann, which has consistently rejected Vodafone's approaches, must now come up with a viable defence.
Vodafone's chief executive, Mr Chris Gent, said the offer was at a premium to Mannesmann's share price. Mr Gent said he was unhappy about calling the bid a hostile one. "Our offer is wholly constructive. The only smack of hostility comes from the steadfast refusal of Mannesmann's management board to accept our offer."
The German company had yesterday announced its offer to buy another British mobile phone operator, Orange, and it was a 68.8 per cent premium to the price of the shares which Mannesmann issued to pay for Orange.
On the Frankfurt stock exchange on yesterday, Mannes mann shares were changing hands at €233.67, a rise of 1.09 per cent from the closing price on Wednesday. The overall DAX index of 30 German blue chip shares showed a gain of just over 3 per cent.
