AT & T, the largest telecom operator in the United States might buy operations of Vodafone outside the U.S., following a joint deal, worth $245 billion, with Verizon Communications, write Bloomberg and Financial Times, citing sources familiar with those discussions.
Vodafone shares rose 6.1% today at the London Stock Exchange after a blog post in Financial Times stating that AT & T (NYSE:T) and Verizon Communications will make an offer to purchase together the British group Vodafone, according to Bloomberg.
Verizon Wireless and Vodafone own together the U.S. operator Verizon Wireless. Vodafone owns 45% and 55% of the shares belong to Verizon Communications. If the transaction in question would take place, the buyers would offer $3.95 per Vodafone share, which would value the British group at about $245 billion, according to information from the FT Alphaville blog.
In March, Verizon was in talks with Vodafone to take over a 45% stake in Verizon Wireless for a 100 percent ownership. Discussions have taken into account the possibility of a merger between Verizon and Vodafone. In this scenario, Verizon would have had to keep only the Vodafone shares on Verizon Wireless and sell the remaining Vodafone operations in other countries to AT & T.
Representatives of Vodafone, Verizon Wireless and AT & T have not commented on the information.
Shares of Vodafone Group Plc (LON:VOD) rose 5.4% to reach a five-year high of 196,65 pence today in London. Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), the second largest mobile operator in the world after China Mobile, rose 6.8% on March 6, 2013, the highest value in the last four years, after Bloomberg announced that Vodafone and Verizon were discussing a joint venture and that Verizon Communications could take complete control of Verizon Wireless. Verizon shares were around $49.50 today at 2PM (EST) on New York Stock Exchange.
According to the Alphaville blog, the investment bank Barclays will mediate the transaction.
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