FT drops TeliaSonera bid
October 10, 2008
France Telecom has abandoned its $40 billion (E25.4m) cash and share bid for TeliaSonera. Negotiations were terminated after France Telecom could not agree a price with the Nordic telecoms company or its main shareholder, the Swedish government.
Mats Odell, Sweden's minister for financial markets, who oversees the government's SEK200 billion (E21bn) privatisation programme, said: “I could not have signed a contract at the price that was available at the weekend”.