While the bids for South African-based MTN become evermore protracted and complex, Vodafone has managed to largely keep its current acquisition activities on a more steady course.
Its bid of €1.61 billion for the broadband operator Tiscali is now seen by most as sufficient to gain control with a deal expected to be concluded within days. Its attempt to gain a majority shareholding in South Africa's Vodacom mobile operation seems to be making progress given that its fixed line assets could be acquired by one of South Africa's richest men, the former anti-apartheid leader Tokyo Sexwale.
Vodafone's bid for Vodacom, thought to be around €2.5 billion, is contingent on Telkom demerging its stake in Vodacom, which has 34 million customers in South Africa. Vodafone's offer to increase its shareholding in the venture by 12.5 percent, however, does not depend on the offer from Sexwale being successful.
For more on this story:
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