Vodafone presses ahead with buyout of Libertel

The mobile phone operator Vodafone yesterday forged ahead with its plan to buy up the shares it does not already own in its Dutch unit Vodafone Libertel despite the management team of that business insisting the offer was too low.

Vodafone, which yesterday boosted its stake in Libertel to 82.4 per cent from 77.6 per cent by buying shares in the market, launched an offer at €11 a share – the same price it had flagged last month.

The group said that Libertel's management team, which has refused to recommend the deal, had agreed to co-operate in the "implementation and completion" of the offer but noted "they are of the opinion that the offer price does not adequately reflect the value of the shares".

Nevertheless, City analysts thought Vodafone would succeed in its efforts to buy up the rest of the business. "The group's reputation for driving a hard bargain should convince investors that this deal is the best they will be offered," analysts at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein said.

Vodafone said it planned to buy up shares in the market up to a maximum price of €11 a share. Its offer is conditional on it reaching or exceeding 95 per cent of Libertel's share capital and it hopes to complete the exercise by the end of March.