RE: Share price16 Dec 2023 16:37
Fleccy,
The biggest mistake Vod did was the acquisition of Mannesman at the peak of .com boom. The best deal they made was actually the sale of verizon at a price of $130bn? Today Verizon is trading at less than $160bn!
What the greedy and destructive Colao should have done was to pay off all debt first before handing out money to shareholders. Read, a disciple of Colao followed in his footsteps and now MDV is reversing their mistakes. She has for sure experience from both of these chaps and if she is savvy, she knows where the mistakes were made. This is why an outsider will have a much tougher job to appreciate the moving parts and the context.
Now, currently the Italian business has better margin than the uk unit, so I would prefer a tie-up like that with liberty global in Nl than a complete sale given the sheer size of the italian business and the future italian potential. Bear in mind Italy never managed to recover from the -08 crisis, but they will turn the bend soon enough. Its a powerhouse when it comes industrial production and a fantastic asset with a huge population. I would have not sold it off.
With the tie-up, net debt will be reduced, similar to the proposed 3 plans. The core pillars of vod in mainland europe are, germany, italy and nl. Orange dominates the eastern european side and france with DT maintaining the Dach region with some other adjacent regions.
Vod can't therefore afford to lose its strategic positioning. The world of deal making is a dirty one and agents will do all they can to force the hands of the weak ones. You think vod would get as a offer for its assets if sp is as suppressed levels or at 160+? So, yes, they will use all tools in their toolkit to achieve their goals. This is why slid shareholders are pivotal in maintaining an astute vision and leadership to fend off hyenas.
interesting times ahead.
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