Verizon Communications Inc has hired advisers to prepare a possible US$100 billion cash and stock bid to take full control of Verizon Wireless from joint venture partner Vodafone Group PLC, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
Verizon, which already owns 55 percent of Verizon Wireless, has not put a proposal forward to Vodafone yet, but it has hired both banking and legal advisers for a possible bid, the sources said.
Verizon hopes to start discussions with Vodafone soon for a friendly deal, but is prepared to take a bid public if the British company does not engage in talks, one of the sources added.
There are no guarantees that Vodafone will be interested in a deal or that any bid will materialize, the sources said.
Over the past decade, Verizon has made little secret of its wish to buy out its British partner from the joint venture, which is the No. 1 US wireless carrier.
The sources said that Verizon now is ready to push aggressively for a deal.
Verizon, benefiting from record low interest rates as well as its own strong stock price, is confident that the company can raise about US$50 billion of bank financing, the sources said.
It plans to pay for the rest of the deal with its own shares, they added.
The sources asked not to be named because the discussions are confidential.
Verizon’s board is expected to discuss details of a potential Verizon Wireless buyout next week at a regularly scheduled meeting being held ahead of the company’s annual shareholder meeting, one of the sources said.
Verizon spokesman Bob Varettoni declined to comment, but pointed to the US telephone company’s statement earlier this month, in which it said it would be a willing buyer of Vodafone’s share of their Verizon Wireless venture.
Taking full ownership would give Verizon, which is reliant on the Verizon Wireless operations for growth, a lot more flexibility with the cash generated from the wireless business.
Verizon’s shares have risen about 20 percent so far this year as its wireless business has been easily outperforming its smaller colleagues in terms of profitability and customer growth, and amid rising hopes that it will purchase the rest of Verizon Wireless.
Investors say the conditions for a deal have improved because of Verizon’s strong results, its share price gains and low interest rates.
Any deal that includes such a large stock component may, though, mean dilution for Verizon Communications shareholders.
So far this year, Vodafone’s shares have risen about 23 percent after lagging in the final few months of last year.
The recent gains have been attributed by analysts to hopes that it will sell the stake to Verizon.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last