Vodafone is reportedly in talks with the owners of Spanish cable operator Ono and could announce a deal in the next few weeks, according to Bloomberg.
The Financial Times had already reported last week that Ono is preparing a flotation that could value it at €7 billion amid rumours that Vodafone is still interested in buying the TV, broadband and telecoms operator as part of its European convergence strategy.
Citing unidentified sources, Bloomberg said on Monday there is no guarantee that Ono and Vodafone will reach an agreement, and that Ono could still decide to pursue an IPO.
The Spanish company could be valued at about €6.4 billion ($8.7 billion) in an IPO including debt, Francisco Salvador, a Madrid-based strategist at FGA/MG Valores, told Bloomberg.
In order to gain the necessary fixed assets to allow it to offer bundles of fixed and mobile services, Vodafone has been buying up operators such as Kabel Deutschland in Germany and forming wholesale agreements or other arrangements elsewhere.
In Spain, however, Vodafone and Orange already said in March that they would invest up to €1 billion to jointly build a fibre network that would bring high-speed Internet service to 6 million households across 50 major cities by September 2017.
Telefónica has also crafted an agreement with Vodafone Spain and Orange Spain to share vertical fibre network infrastructure in buildings they serve throughout Spain.
For more:
- see this Bloomberg article
- see this Financial Times article (sub. req.)
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