Spain: Vodafone eyes Orange for merger plan B
February 2, 2021
From David Del Valle in Madrid
Vodafone Spain has reportedly approached Orange over a possible deal in case its merger plans with MásMóvil fails.
Negotiations have stalled in the MásMóvil deal over discrepancies in the control of a possible joint company, and consequently Vodafone is now exploring a joint ‘InfraCo’ with Orange – a big infrastructure company that gathers together all their mobile networks to become a giant in mobile telephony towers – according to Expansión.
A possible alliance between the second (Orange) and the third (Vodafone) largest telco operators in the country would give rise to a company with almost 28 million mobile lines, 6.3 million broadband customers and over 2.2 million pay-TV subscribers.
But a merger with MásMóvil is not yet completely ruled out, although their positions arre far apart as the pair can’t agree on the amount of participation in a possible joint company (Vodafone would like to take more than 50 per cent and MásMóvil doesn’t agree).
Vodafone is seeking consolidation in the market to better deal with tougher competition and low cost operators that have a become a burden to traditional companies experiencing hard times financially.