Stare flat su TEF non è stata una cattiva idea, -6% stamattina su annuncio di offerta di acquisto sui portoghesi...Ovviamente soldi che escono
Telefonica Makes $7.3 Billion Unsolicited Bid to Control Vivo
May 11 -- Telefonica SA, Europe’s second-largest phone company, made an unsolicited bid to buy out its Portuguese partner for 5.7 billion euros ($7.3 billion) in a venture that controls Vivo Participacoes SA, Brazil’s top wireless carrier. The offer, rebuffed by Portugal Telecom SGPS SA, values Vivo Participacoes at about 140 percent higher than its market capitalization. Portugal Telecom’s board unanimously rejected the bid because the Brazilian carrier is core to its strategy, the Lisbon-based phone company said on its website. The bid fueled speculation the two will battle for control of the leading carrier in South America’s biggest mobile-phone market, where the number of subscribers is projected to grow 11 percent this year. The offer builds on Telefonica’s strategy of countering slowing growth in Europe through acquisitions in Latin America, where the company has spent more than $50 billion since the 1990s.
“It’s the only shot Portugal Telecom has at long-term growth,” said Peter Lyons, an analyst at Oscar Gruss & Son Inc. in New York. “If Telefonica does come back with another offer, it’s going to have to be something with shock value to create a rift between the shareholders and the management.”
An offer of 8 billion euros might be enough to persuade Portugal Telecom’s investors to push for a sale, said Lyons, who advises holding on to Vivo shares. Telefonica could also seek other acquisitions in Brazil’s mobile market such as TIM Participacoes SA, the third-largest wireless carrier behind Vivo and America Movil SAB, Lyons said.
32 Times Earnings
A spokesman for Vivo in Sao Paulo, who asked not to be named because of internal policy, declined to comment.
The offer, expiring on June 6, values Vivo at almost 32 times projected earnings for 2010, according to Credit Suisse Group AG analyst Andrew Campbell. That’s in line with multiples at which shares of Latin American telecommunications companies trade, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Spain’s Telefonica offered to buy half of Brasilcel NV, the unlisted joint venture with Portugal Telecom that owns about 60 percent of Vivo. The Brazilian carrier had 30 percent of the nation’s 179 million wireless subscriptions at the end of March, according to Anatel, the country’s phone regulator.
Telefonica said if Portugal Telecom accepted its offer, it would also buy outstanding common shares of Vivo for 600 million euros. That would value those shares at about 86 reais ($49) a share, or double their closing price of 43.50 reais in Sao Paulo trading yesterday, according to estimates at Credit Suisse.