Acquisition of Minority in Ar

RNS Number : 7708U

Vodafone Group Plc

19 May 2008

 



19 May 2008

ACQUISITION OF MINORITY INTERESTS IN ARCOR

Vodafone* today announces that it has agreed to acquire the 26.4% interest in Arcor AG & Co. KG ('Arcor') that it does not already own from Deutsche Bahn AG and Deutsche Bank AG for a cash consideration of €474 million.

With full ownership of Arcor, the leading alternative fixed-line carrier in Germany with 2.6 million DSL lines, representing 14% market share, Vodafone continues to execute on its strategy of meeting the total telecommunication needs of its customers. The transaction also enables Vodafone Germany to exploit further the potential synergies available from fixed-mobile integration and to participate more effectively in the continued rapid development of the German broadband market, which is growing at just under 30% per annum. 

Commenting on the transaction, Arun Sarin, Chief Executive of Vodafone, said: 'This deal is consistent with our total communications strategy. By taking full control of Arcor and aligning it more closely with Vodafone Germany we will leverage the greater scale this presents, and generate synergies and substantial time to market benefits within Europe's largest telecommunications market.'

The transaction meets Vodafone's stated financial criteria and is broadly neutral to adjusted earnings per share from the date of the acquisition. There are no outstanding conditions to the acquisition and it will therefore be completed today.

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* The purchaser is Vodafone Holding GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vodafone Group.

For further information:

Vodafone Group

Investor Relations	Media Relations
Telephone: [phone]	Telephone: [phone]

About Vodafone

Vodafone is the world's leading international mobile communications group with over 252 million proportionate customers as at 31 December 2007. Vodafone currently has equity interests in 25 countries across five continents and a further 41 partner networks worldwide. For more information, please visit www.vodafone.com 

About Arcor

Arcor is the leading alternative fixed-line carrier in Germany. Through its own nationwide voice and data network, Arcor uses the latest technologies to offer both corporate and residential clients a full spectrum of services for voice and data transfer.  

Arcor has an advanced fixed network in Germany, which includes more than 33,000 km of optical fibre cabling, 2,600 local exchanges, providing approximately 60% population coverage in more than 800 cities and towns. Arcor also continues to address new customer segments through wholesale co-operations and adds more customer offerings such as digital TV as well as IP-based and managed services for business customers. 

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