Vodafone says no to Iliad's offer

Stop to the negotiation between Iliad and Vodafone for the Italian activities of the multinational telecoms company. The French group headed by Xavier Niel announced in a statement that the Vodafone Group has rejected a "further best offer" submitted by Iliad "following the offer of 18 December 2023".

The press release explains in detail 'the key terms of the new offer': a 50/50 merger through the establishment of a 50/50 NewCo; EUR 6.6 billion in cash and a shareholder loan of EUR 2 billion (Enterprise Value of EUR 10.45 billion); Iliad would get EUR 400 million in cash and a shareholder loan of EUR 2 billion (Enterprise Value of EUR 4.25 billion); no call options in favour of Iliad (a point, this, much debated for the first offer in December).

"Iliad Italia will therefore continue its stand-alone strategy," concludes the French group's statement, which "will continue to strengthen its position in Italy and pursue with determination the conquest of market shares in all segments."

Iliad's communication - it should be mentioned in this context that the owner Xavier Niel is also a shareholder of Vodafone Group with his personal holding company, with a 2.5 per cent stake - was followed by Vodafone Group's statement: 'In December we communicated that we are exploring options with several parties in Italy. We have discontinued discussions with Iliad while interlocutions with other parties continue'. Interlocutions that hark back, hot on the heels of rumours of negotiations with Swisscom over a possible deal in Italy between Vodafone and Fastweb, a subsidiary of the Swiss telephone company. Even more so, given the timing of today's communications, all eyes are on the day when the quarterly accounts for Vodafone group will be released, on 5 February.