Shares of Italian broadband operator Tiscali jumped 10% on Tuesday after a report that Britain’s Vodafone Group could bid for the company.
The cellphone company would make a bid in the next 24 hours to buy all of Tiscali, Italian daily MF reported, citing sources close to Vodafone.
Although the price was being kept secret, a reasonable bid would be about €2,80 a share, the newspaper said. It added that Tiscali was worth €1,6-billion, including tax credits.
The shares were up 7,7% to €2,52 at 7.34am GMT.
But Tiscali said it had not yet set a price for itself and was still in talks with a number of companies.
”Negotiations are ongoing with several operators and the price is part of such negotiations,” Tiscali said in a statement.
Vodafone declined to comment.
Shrinking player
After years of restructuring, Tiscali shrank from a pan-European player to a group focused on Britain and Italy. This year it put itself up for sale.
Tiscali last month said it received a number of offers.
Analysts have said potential buyers are likely to break up Tiscali’s Italian and British operations.
A financial source close to the matter told Reuters the contenders included Vodafone, BSkyB, Swisscom unit Fastweb and Wind, an Italian cellphone operator.
Telecom Italia SpA has said it had not made an offer but was monitoring the situation.
Tiscali’s operation in Britain is its most interesting because it has more clients in a market that is more open than the Italian market. With a 15% market share, Tiscali is the fourth-biggest broadband operator in Britain.
In Italy, Tiscali has a 5% market share, trailing Telecom Italia and Fastweb. — Reuters