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* CEO says actively pursuing deals in multiple markets
* Sees opportunities in Italy, Spain, UK and Portugal
* Tie-up for Vantage Towers would be 'ideal option'
* Shares rise 3.4%
(Adds CEO comments, updates shares)
By Paul Sandle
LONDON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Vodafone is pursuing
mergers with rivals in multiple European markets, spurred on by
more favourable signals from regulators who have realised the
value of network investment during the pandemic, Chief Executive
Nick Read said.
"We are approaching consolidation with speed and resolve,"
he told reporters after Vodafone reported third-quarter numbers.
"We are active on a number of fronts and we are seeing good
engagement from our counterparties which confirms that we have a
series of potential opportunities to shape the business with
stronger assets in healthier markets."
The telecoms group, which has been targeted by activist
investor Cevian Capital, sees opportunities in Spain, Italy,
Britain and Portugal, Read said.
Other parties would have to be pragmatic and realistic on
valuation, he said, if deals were to happen. "We will be
realistic on the valuation of our business."
Reuters reported earlier this month that Vodafone and Iliad
were discussing a tie-up in Italy.
A report in Spain on Wednesday said it was talking to
MasMovil there, and other reports have previously linked the
British company with Hutchison's Three in its home market.
Read said an industrial merger with a like-minded operator
such as Orange or Deutsche Telekom would be the "ideal option"
for the Vantage Towers business he spun out last year.
If that didn't materialise, there were other options such as
a combinations with a tower company, he said.
Read declined to confirm that Cevian was on the register,
but he said he had been talking about consolidation "for years".
"The important moment was COVID, which we've been dealing
with for over two years, in terms of setting a different
dialogue with policy makers," he said.
Vodafone reported a 2.7% rise in third-quarter group service
revenue, described by Read as "solid".
But there was no respite from intense competition in Spain,
where it lost 53,000 mobile contract and 50,000 broadband
customers, and in Italy, which recorded an eighth consecutive
quarter of decline.
Shares in Vodafone, which are trading at the same level as
12 months ago, were 3.4% higher by 1043 GMT.
Read said Vodafone was "firmly on track" to meet its
full-year expectations of 15.2 billion to 15.4 billion euros in
adjusted core earnings and at least 5.3 billion euros of free
cash flow.
(Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
