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Mobile & Satellite
France Telecom bullish on Orange bid
By William Emmanuel, Reuters
20 April 2000
France Telecom said on Thursday it would bid for British mobile operator Orange even if NTL Mobile, which is backed by the French operator and cable giant NTL Inc, wins a British high tech mobile licence.
The French giant, which noted it could sell one UMTS licence if it ended up with two, also said it was hoping to list all or part of its Internet activities - in particular its service provider Wanadoo - by mid-year. Further details of the planned listing helped send the company's shares three percent higher to 168.5 euros by 1115 GMT, bucking a weak European telecoms market to become the top gainer among the continent's blue-chips.
France Telecom Chairman Michel Bon, whose group said in March it was considering an Internet float, told a news conference that recent market volatility and a resulting shift to greater selectivity among high-tech stocks "leads us to believe strongly in floating Wanadoo on the bourse".
But he added that a timetable had not yet been fixed.
"At the earliest it would be June or July. That said, it could happen at the end of the summer holidays (in September)," he told a news conference on the 63-percent state-owned company's mobile Internet plans.
Bon, who has made no secret of his desire to buy Britain's Orange, also said any deal for the group - which is being demerged by cellphone giant Vodafone AirTouch Plc - would not be determined until the end of a British auction for five UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) licences.
Asked if France Telecom would bid for Orange if NTL were to win one of the prized licences, Bon said: "That doesn't seem to be a problem to me. We would sell one of the two licences. There's clearly a market for that."
NTL Mobile, whose latest bid for one of five licences up for grabs in a government auction was placed at almost 4.0 billion pounds ($6.32 billion), is seen by analysts as the most likely outsider to win a broadband mobile licence in Britain.
But it faces stiff competition from TIW UNTS, a subsidiary of Canada's Telesystem International Wireless Inc, which is tipped to be backed by powerful Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa.
Britain's four mobile phone companies - Vodafone AirTouch, BT Cellnet, Orange and One2One are all expected to clinch one. The size of the bids has far exceeded initial analyst and company expectations.
© 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Mobile & Satellite
--------------------------------------------------
France Telecom poised for Orange bid
By Kirstin Ridley and Sophy Tonder, Reuters
25 May 2000
France Telecom advisers are working round the clock to place a knock-out, multi-billion pound cash and shares bid for British cellphone group Orange on the table early next week, bankers said on Thursday.
"I think we will know more tonight," said one banker. "It's a highly complex task and very time-consuming. But if all goes well, it (the bid) should be out early next week."
France Telecom's bankers had been hoping to finalise bid plans this week for Britain's youngest mobile phone company, which must be divested by Vodafone AirTouch Plc as part of its takeover of Germany's Mannesmann AG .
But with little sign of any rival offers from the likes of Dutch carrier KPN Telecom and MCI WorldCom , bankers believe the small delay will not upset French hopes of outpacing competitors in a race to clinch a deal company analysts say could fetch around 50 billion euros ($45 billion).
Nevertheless, the small Dutch company - which has powerful joint-venture allies in the form of Japanese cellphone giant NTT DoCoMo and BellSouth Corp of the United States - remains interested and is keeping a close eye on developments.
"As far as I know, we have not made an offer yet," a KPN spokesman told Reuters in Amsterdam. "When we make an offer we will do so in silence."
Vodafone is not expected to announce any Orange offer unless it agrees to it. But hopes of an imminent cash injection sent shares in the debt-laden mobile phone giant surging more than 7.6 percent to 283-3/4 by 1250 GMT.
France Telecom, which has agreed terms for a 20 billion pound ($30 billion) loan to help fund its bid, is weighing plans to follow a trend set by peers such as Deutsche Telekom , Spain's Telefonica and KPN to spin off its cellphone arm and roll Orange into an enlarged cellphone group.
Such a deal could leave Vodafone, the world's biggest mobile phone company, with around 12 percent of the French group.
"It is unlikely the French could afford the price in cash," said one industry source. "I think that is true of any potential buyer. Therefore, it is quite likely that an offer would contain a significant share of stock."
Meanwhile, European regulators said they would probe any trade sale of Orange to ensure it did not stifle competition.
"What matters is that Vodafone cannot retain control of Orange," said European Commission spokeswoman Amelia Torres. "But we'd obviously have to look at whether any buyer is suitable from a competition point of view."
France Telecom's stock brushed off recent weakness amid a global telecoms sell-off and rose 5.9 percent to 138.2 euros.
Although Vodafone initially said it preferred to demerge and re-list Orange around October, costly bids for new generation UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) mobile licences across Europe are spurring the need for a quicker deal.
"The fundamental respect in which the world has changed in the last four or five weeks is the price for UMTS licences," said one industry source, referring to a high-stakes UK auction that cost bidders more than seven times initial forecasts.
"As a means of raising capital to fund that, an Orange sale clearly makes a lot of sense, but only if the price is right."
Price is not the only issue for Orange - run by ambitious Chief Executive Hans Snook and Finance Director Graham Howe.
Orange's top brass - who are keen to control their destiny after becoming discontented under the helm of Mannesmann - have vowed that any bidder whose terms they reject will find an empty boardroom. That might wipe billions of pounds off Orange. "Let's see if France Telecom can square the circle," said another industry source. "The propensity of Vodafone to cut a deal will depend on the nature and currency of the deal."
Some analysts had thought Vodafone would opt for an Orange re-listing rather than a trade sale because it might otherwise face a capital gains tax bill of several billion pounds. However, these concerns could be exaggerated.
Mannesmann paid around 20 billion pounds for Orange last February, but Vodafone's ensuing hostile bid battle for Mannesmann helped send both the German group's and Orange's shares sharply higher, valuing Orange at around 30 billion pounds. "Tax is not a significant consideration when it comes to either a demerger or a sale," noted one industry source.
Vodafone shareholders, who are keen to ensure that Vodafone secures a top price for Orange, said they were taking a back-seat role and had not yet been contacted.
"We wouldn't expect to see Vodafone before a deal has been announced," said one fund manager. "Then we would expect them to justify their actions."
"Maybe we should think about it more," added another. "But with most of these companies, you just let them get on with it. They then make an announcement and occasionally we say 'that's outrageous, you can't do that'. But normally that is too late."
© 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------
Mobile & Satellite
France Telecom buys Orange for $37 billion
By Elizabeth Biddlecombe, Total Telecom
30 May 2000
France Telecom has agreed to buy U.K. mobile operator Orange from Vodafone AirTouch for a total of 43 billion euros ($40.6 billion).
The deal, signed on Monday night, has been approved by the French government, the largest shareholder in France Telecom with a 61% stake. Approval from the other shareholders is yet to be given, but no problems are expected.
France Telecom will also pay the U.K. government the £4.1 billion ($6.1 billion) fee for the third generation mobile license won by Orange at auction last month.
Following the announcement Orange declared its intention to compete aggressively with Vodafone as well as expand on a global basis.
"We want to be the biggest competitor to Vodafone that they can possibly imagine," said Orange chief executive, Hans Snook.
Snook, who will retain his position as chief executive of the company, said Orange had long had global aspirations. "Orange is a global brand in waiting and today's agreement will make it a reality," he said.
Once integration and pan-European branding issues have been settled, the new company will look to extend its presence into the Americas, Snook said.
Meanwhile, Vodafone plans to use the proceeds from the sale to bid for 3G licenses worldwide. Chief executive, Chris Gent, confirmed that there had been other bidders for Orange, but that France Telecom was the first to make an attractive offer.
The new Orange, which will include France's largest mobile operator, Itineris, is expected to have a combined total of 30 million subscribers by the end of 2000, making it the second largest European operator after Vodafone. The new company will have a footprint in 16 countries in Europe and a further 11 countries around the world, and is expected to have a market capitalization, when listed, of 100-150 billion euros.
Currently, Orange has almost 7 million customers in the United Kingdom, a market share of over 22%.
According to Graham Howe, deputy chief executive and chief financial officer of Orange, the combined company will have a turnover of around 8 billion euros.
"Orange is the fastest growing operator in the U.K. and has been measured by Oftel as the best quality network in the U.K. for the past three years," said Michel Bon, chairman and chief executive of France Telecom and chairman of the board of the new company. "It is strong on customer loyalty and high customer satisfaction levels. This has made the company a benchmark in the industry," he said.
"Our international strategy is to become a leading telecoms player," he continued. "Through Orange we think there is a big potential for global brand expansion throughout Europe and globally."
Bon highlighted the benefits of having a foothold in the U.K. mobile market. "It is fast growing and ahead of most other European markets in terms of the new economy," he said, citing a Forrester Research prediction of 26% mobile Internet penetration in the U.K. by 2002 as indicative of the "significant" potential for mobile data in the country.
Meanwhile, Vodafone's chief executive, Chris Gent welcomed Bon's call to compete. "We never had a license as a birthright. We have won licenses all over Europe and we compete with PTTs," he said. "Provided there's fair competition in all markets we've got no concerns." But he added: "There isn't actually fair competition in France."
According to Bon, the deal will also create new benefits in terms of scale and funds when tackling the market for the next-generation Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). France Telecom is bidding in Germany, and Orange has a UMTS license in the U.K. and a 5% stake in Spanish 3G operator Xfera.
France Telecom is paying 22.2 billion euros ($20.7 billion) in cash for Orange and will raise 18.1 billion euros ($16.9 billion) by issuing 129.2 million France Telecom shares at 140.2 euros per share.
The operator said it will also partly finance the deal through disposal of non-core assets such as its holdings in KPN, Sprint Corp., Telmex and Deutsche Telekom over the next 18 to 24 months. "We are borrowing a significant amount of money today, but this is just bridge financing. It will be repaid in two to three years," said Jean-Louis Vinciguerra, executive vice president and chief financial officer at France Telecom.
Once the new Orange has been listed, expected to be at the end of this year or the beginning of 2001, on the London, Paris and New York stock exchanges, France Telecom will repurchase up to £8.4 billion ($12.6 billion) of stock.
The French government's holding will be reduced to 54%, and Vodafone will retain a stake of just under 10% but will have no voting rights.
© 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
France Telecom bullish on Orange bid
By William Emmanuel, Reuters
20 April 2000
France Telecom said on Thursday it would bid for British mobile operator Orange even if NTL Mobile, which is backed by the French operator and cable giant NTL Inc, wins a British high tech mobile licence.
The French giant, which noted it could sell one UMTS licence if it ended up with two, also said it was hoping to list all or part of its Internet activities - in particular its service provider Wanadoo - by mid-year. Further details of the planned listing helped send the company's shares three percent higher to 168.5 euros by 1115 GMT, bucking a weak European telecoms market to become the top gainer among the continent's blue-chips.
France Telecom Chairman Michel Bon, whose group said in March it was considering an Internet float, told a news conference that recent market volatility and a resulting shift to greater selectivity among high-tech stocks "leads us to believe strongly in floating Wanadoo on the bourse".
But he added that a timetable had not yet been fixed.
"At the earliest it would be June or July. That said, it could happen at the end of the summer holidays (in September)," he told a news conference on the 63-percent state-owned company's mobile Internet plans.
Bon, who has made no secret of his desire to buy Britain's Orange, also said any deal for the group - which is being demerged by cellphone giant Vodafone AirTouch Plc - would not be determined until the end of a British auction for five UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) licences.
Asked if France Telecom would bid for Orange if NTL were to win one of the prized licences, Bon said: "That doesn't seem to be a problem to me. We would sell one of the two licences. There's clearly a market for that."
NTL Mobile, whose latest bid for one of five licences up for grabs in a government auction was placed at almost 4.0 billion pounds ($6.32 billion), is seen by analysts as the most likely outsider to win a broadband mobile licence in Britain.
But it faces stiff competition from TIW UNTS, a subsidiary of Canada's Telesystem International Wireless Inc, which is tipped to be backed by powerful Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa.
Britain's four mobile phone companies - Vodafone AirTouch, BT Cellnet, Orange and One2One are all expected to clinch one. The size of the bids has far exceeded initial analyst and company expectations.
© 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Mobile & Satellite
--------------------------------------------------
France Telecom poised for Orange bid
By Kirstin Ridley and Sophy Tonder, Reuters
25 May 2000
France Telecom advisers are working round the clock to place a knock-out, multi-billion pound cash and shares bid for British cellphone group Orange on the table early next week, bankers said on Thursday.
"I think we will know more tonight," said one banker. "It's a highly complex task and very time-consuming. But if all goes well, it (the bid) should be out early next week."
France Telecom's bankers had been hoping to finalise bid plans this week for Britain's youngest mobile phone company, which must be divested by Vodafone AirTouch Plc as part of its takeover of Germany's Mannesmann AG .
But with little sign of any rival offers from the likes of Dutch carrier KPN Telecom and MCI WorldCom , bankers believe the small delay will not upset French hopes of outpacing competitors in a race to clinch a deal company analysts say could fetch around 50 billion euros ($45 billion).
Nevertheless, the small Dutch company - which has powerful joint-venture allies in the form of Japanese cellphone giant NTT DoCoMo and BellSouth Corp of the United States - remains interested and is keeping a close eye on developments.
"As far as I know, we have not made an offer yet," a KPN spokesman told Reuters in Amsterdam. "When we make an offer we will do so in silence."
Vodafone is not expected to announce any Orange offer unless it agrees to it. But hopes of an imminent cash injection sent shares in the debt-laden mobile phone giant surging more than 7.6 percent to 283-3/4 by 1250 GMT.
France Telecom, which has agreed terms for a 20 billion pound ($30 billion) loan to help fund its bid, is weighing plans to follow a trend set by peers such as Deutsche Telekom , Spain's Telefonica and KPN to spin off its cellphone arm and roll Orange into an enlarged cellphone group.
Such a deal could leave Vodafone, the world's biggest mobile phone company, with around 12 percent of the French group.
"It is unlikely the French could afford the price in cash," said one industry source. "I think that is true of any potential buyer. Therefore, it is quite likely that an offer would contain a significant share of stock."
Meanwhile, European regulators said they would probe any trade sale of Orange to ensure it did not stifle competition.
"What matters is that Vodafone cannot retain control of Orange," said European Commission spokeswoman Amelia Torres. "But we'd obviously have to look at whether any buyer is suitable from a competition point of view."
France Telecom's stock brushed off recent weakness amid a global telecoms sell-off and rose 5.9 percent to 138.2 euros.
Although Vodafone initially said it preferred to demerge and re-list Orange around October, costly bids for new generation UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) mobile licences across Europe are spurring the need for a quicker deal.
"The fundamental respect in which the world has changed in the last four or five weeks is the price for UMTS licences," said one industry source, referring to a high-stakes UK auction that cost bidders more than seven times initial forecasts.
"As a means of raising capital to fund that, an Orange sale clearly makes a lot of sense, but only if the price is right."
Price is not the only issue for Orange - run by ambitious Chief Executive Hans Snook and Finance Director Graham Howe.
Orange's top brass - who are keen to control their destiny after becoming discontented under the helm of Mannesmann - have vowed that any bidder whose terms they reject will find an empty boardroom. That might wipe billions of pounds off Orange. "Let's see if France Telecom can square the circle," said another industry source. "The propensity of Vodafone to cut a deal will depend on the nature and currency of the deal."
Some analysts had thought Vodafone would opt for an Orange re-listing rather than a trade sale because it might otherwise face a capital gains tax bill of several billion pounds. However, these concerns could be exaggerated.
Mannesmann paid around 20 billion pounds for Orange last February, but Vodafone's ensuing hostile bid battle for Mannesmann helped send both the German group's and Orange's shares sharply higher, valuing Orange at around 30 billion pounds. "Tax is not a significant consideration when it comes to either a demerger or a sale," noted one industry source.
Vodafone shareholders, who are keen to ensure that Vodafone secures a top price for Orange, said they were taking a back-seat role and had not yet been contacted.
"We wouldn't expect to see Vodafone before a deal has been announced," said one fund manager. "Then we would expect them to justify their actions."
"Maybe we should think about it more," added another. "But with most of these companies, you just let them get on with it. They then make an announcement and occasionally we say 'that's outrageous, you can't do that'. But normally that is too late."
© 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------
Mobile & Satellite
France Telecom buys Orange for $37 billion
By Elizabeth Biddlecombe, Total Telecom
30 May 2000
France Telecom has agreed to buy U.K. mobile operator Orange from Vodafone AirTouch for a total of 43 billion euros ($40.6 billion).
The deal, signed on Monday night, has been approved by the French government, the largest shareholder in France Telecom with a 61% stake. Approval from the other shareholders is yet to be given, but no problems are expected.
France Telecom will also pay the U.K. government the £4.1 billion ($6.1 billion) fee for the third generation mobile license won by Orange at auction last month.
Following the announcement Orange declared its intention to compete aggressively with Vodafone as well as expand on a global basis.
"We want to be the biggest competitor to Vodafone that they can possibly imagine," said Orange chief executive, Hans Snook.
Snook, who will retain his position as chief executive of the company, said Orange had long had global aspirations. "Orange is a global brand in waiting and today's agreement will make it a reality," he said.
Once integration and pan-European branding issues have been settled, the new company will look to extend its presence into the Americas, Snook said.
Meanwhile, Vodafone plans to use the proceeds from the sale to bid for 3G licenses worldwide. Chief executive, Chris Gent, confirmed that there had been other bidders for Orange, but that France Telecom was the first to make an attractive offer.
The new Orange, which will include France's largest mobile operator, Itineris, is expected to have a combined total of 30 million subscribers by the end of 2000, making it the second largest European operator after Vodafone. The new company will have a footprint in 16 countries in Europe and a further 11 countries around the world, and is expected to have a market capitalization, when listed, of 100-150 billion euros.
Currently, Orange has almost 7 million customers in the United Kingdom, a market share of over 22%.
According to Graham Howe, deputy chief executive and chief financial officer of Orange, the combined company will have a turnover of around 8 billion euros.
"Orange is the fastest growing operator in the U.K. and has been measured by Oftel as the best quality network in the U.K. for the past three years," said Michel Bon, chairman and chief executive of France Telecom and chairman of the board of the new company. "It is strong on customer loyalty and high customer satisfaction levels. This has made the company a benchmark in the industry," he said.
"Our international strategy is to become a leading telecoms player," he continued. "Through Orange we think there is a big potential for global brand expansion throughout Europe and globally."
Bon highlighted the benefits of having a foothold in the U.K. mobile market. "It is fast growing and ahead of most other European markets in terms of the new economy," he said, citing a Forrester Research prediction of 26% mobile Internet penetration in the U.K. by 2002 as indicative of the "significant" potential for mobile data in the country.
Meanwhile, Vodafone's chief executive, Chris Gent welcomed Bon's call to compete. "We never had a license as a birthright. We have won licenses all over Europe and we compete with PTTs," he said. "Provided there's fair competition in all markets we've got no concerns." But he added: "There isn't actually fair competition in France."
According to Bon, the deal will also create new benefits in terms of scale and funds when tackling the market for the next-generation Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). France Telecom is bidding in Germany, and Orange has a UMTS license in the U.K. and a 5% stake in Spanish 3G operator Xfera.
France Telecom is paying 22.2 billion euros ($20.7 billion) in cash for Orange and will raise 18.1 billion euros ($16.9 billion) by issuing 129.2 million France Telecom shares at 140.2 euros per share.
The operator said it will also partly finance the deal through disposal of non-core assets such as its holdings in KPN, Sprint Corp., Telmex and Deutsche Telekom over the next 18 to 24 months. "We are borrowing a significant amount of money today, but this is just bridge financing. It will be repaid in two to three years," said Jean-Louis Vinciguerra, executive vice president and chief financial officer at France Telecom.
Once the new Orange has been listed, expected to be at the end of this year or the beginning of 2001, on the London, Paris and New York stock exchanges, France Telecom will repurchase up to £8.4 billion ($12.6 billion) of stock.
The French government's holding will be reduced to 54%, and Vodafone will retain a stake of just under 10% but will have no voting rights.
© 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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