Verizon says Voda 'will keep shares'

Good news for Sarin

By Guy Kewney, NewsWireless.Net • Get more from this author

Posted in Financial News, 2nd August 2006 11:29 GMT

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The news that Arun Sarin will be justified in staying as CEO of Vodafone is hardly going to be a surprise to Arun himself; he probably arranged the announcement by Verizon Wireless that "cellular partner Vodafone Group PLC has opted not to sell its 45 per cent stake in Verizon Wireless for at least the next few years".

The Associated Press report analyses the problem as "Verizon can't afford to buy Voda out" - because the success of Verizon Wireless has boosted shares beyond the company's purse.

But financial advisers to Voda are well aware the real threat isn't that the American will buy its global partner out: it's the fact that various financiers are preparing to asset-strip the "fast growth potential" of Voda subsidiaries in territories like Africa and South America to fund the takeover of the group.

Nonetheless, UK analysts are likely to be reassured.

"Full-ownership of Verizon Wireless' profit would help fund a hugely expensive upgrade of the Verizon's traditional phone network with fiber-optic lines to deliver TV and next-generation internet services. But as the cellular business has prospered, its market value has soared, fueling worries Verizon might be forced to take on too much debt to buy the Vodafone stake, now estimated to be worth well above $40bn," Business Week said today.

But the story made it clear that this statement arose from briefings by Arun Sarin to financial analysts.

Sarin - unpopular with UK and European analysts - commands strong admiration in US markets, where a firm statement of non-intent to buy Voda out means, effectively, that Voda still has a use for Sarin's services in wowing US investors.

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