As CeBIT 2008 kicks off, today in Hanover, Germany, Vodafone Germany Chief Executive Friedrich Joussen told Dow Jones that his company is likely to take over fixed line and broadband provider Arcor.
Vodafone Germany has a 74% stake in Arcor, while minority shareholder Deutsche Bahn hold and Deutsche Bank hold 18% and 8%, respectively. Joussen added that the likelihood of a Vodafone buyout of the minority shareholders is now much higher than half a year ago. Arcor and Vodafone already closely cooperate on infrastructure.
He said, 'All the parties have come closer in their asking price, so it's not ruled out that their will be a settlement in a short period of time,' and added that synergies between the companies has already led to savings of €500m annually.
In 2007, Arcor had sales of €2.13 billion and posted a 9.5% rise in sales in the first nine months of the financial year that ended in December. Arcor provides broadband and fixed-line services in Germany and claims it had 2.48 million broadband customers at the end of 2007.