Six of the major investors in Vodafone has said that the US$100 billion bid made by Verizon Communications is not enough as buyout value for the British firm's stake in its joint venture. They urged the American firm to increase its offer to at least US$120 billion for the whole stake in Vondafone.
The comments of these investors followed a Reuters news report last Wednesday that Verizon had hired advisers to draft a US$100 billion bid to buy out the 45% stake of Vodafone. It is believed that the bid would be split into 50:50 cash and stock bid.
The six shareholders, owners of nearly 1.3 billion Vodafone shares, said that if the US$100 billion bid stands, it would be better to go all out for a full merger with Verizon instead. The main concerns of these investors, as relayed to Reuters, is that Verizon Wireless would highlight the firm's weakness in the beleaguered European market. Verizon Wireless is the best performing asset of Vodafone in its portfolio.
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