Vodafone Group Plc, the world’s largest mobile-phone company, won’t bid for MTN Group Ltd, Africa’s biggest wireless operator, and said it’s still interested in owning more of South Africa’s Vodacom Group Ltd.
“We have no intention of pursuing a bid for MTN,” Vodafone spokesman Simon Gordon said in a telephone interview today. The Sunday Times reported yesterday that Newbury, England-based Vodafone may offer 20 billion pounds ($39 billion) to buy MTN.
Vodafone’s decision means one less competitor for Bharti Airtel Ltd, the Indian mobile-phone operator that’s in talks with MTN. Bharti and MTN said last week the discussions are exploratory and may not lead to a deal. UBS AG analysts said last week Vodafone was among potential bidders who may push up the MTN acquisition price.
“Vodafone is still holding out for Vodacom,” London-based ING analyst Damien Chew, who rates Vodafone “hold,” said today. “MTN’s international assets are attractive to Vodafone, but if they bought them, they’d have a conflict of interest in South Africa” because of antitrust regulations.
Vodafone owns 50 percent of Vodacom, South Africa’s largest mobile-phone company, and Telkom South Africa owns the other half. Vodafone has focused on expanding in emerging markets as growth in European countries has slowed. In the past two years, Vodafone bought stakes in Turkey and India, the fastest growing major mobile market.
“We are committed to our current shareholding in Vodacom,” Vodafone’s Gordon said. “If the opportunity presented itself to increase that, we would look at it, as we’ve said in the past.”
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