(Adds details, analyst quote)
PARIS, Feb 8 (Reuters) - French telecoms group Iliad said it
made an offer to Vodafone to buy 100% of Vodafone
Italia, an Iliad spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Reuters reported last month that Iliad, led by billionaire
founder Xavier Niel, and Vodafone were in talks to
combine their respective businesses in Italy in an attempt to
end cut-throat competition.
Vodafone declined to comment. Iliad did not provide further
details on its offer.
Such a deal would transform the Italian telecoms landscape
by cutting the number of major mobile operators from four to
three. It would also face scrutiny from antitrust from
regulators.
"The transaction for Iliad would be financially very
challenging and not obvious from an authorisation point of view,
although the European regulator has appeared more willing to
consider consolidation from 4 to 3 operators...," broker Equita
said.
Equita estimated that Vodafone Italia, which also competes
against CK Hutchison Holdings' Wind Tre and former
monopoly Telecom Italia, has an enterprise value of
between 11 billion and 13 billion euros ($13-15 billion).
Analysts at Banca Akros estimated Vodafone Italia's
enterprise value at between 9 and 9.5 billion euros, adding that
they expected Iliad could be willing to pay more than 10
billion.
Vodafone Chief Executive Officer Nick Read said last week
that the British company was pursuing deals in multiple markets,
with Italy listed as one that would benefit from consolidation.
($1 = 0.8760 euros)
(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain, Elvira Pollina and Paul Sandle
Editing by GV De Clercq, David Goodman and Jane Merriman)