AT&T has approached carriers in Europe with offers for acquisition
The competition between the three biggest mobile operators in the US, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless and AT&T is more intensive than ever. Each company has its own strategy for developing and “conquering” better positions in the mobile world. While T-Mobile and Verizon are focused on the US markets, AT&T has embraced the strategy to expand its reach outside the country, by strategy for acquisitions of mobile operators in Europe.
The latest rumors reveal a bit more about the plans of the carrier. Sources say that AT&T has approached one of the biggest Spanish mobile operators, Telefonica SA (TEF) with the offer to buy 29.9% of the company. The speculations around this offer point that the Spanish company will not welcome the proposal. One of the reasons for this is because of the requirements of the Spanish law. When a company buys 30% or more of a Spanish firm, it is required to make an offer for a full acquisition of the Spanish organization. If AT&T manages to do this with Telefonica SA, the Spanish operator, which is one of the biggest in the world, will lose its independence.
The offer for the partial acquisition of the Spanish carrier is only one side of AT&T’s strategy in Europe. Rumors say that the US mobile operator will offer to buy the O2 in the UK, which is the unit of Tenefonica in the country. There are also hints that AT&T will make proposals to EE in the UK, as well as to Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom.
Everything shows that AT&T wants to “conquer” strong positions on the European wireless market while it is still suffering from the world economic crises. The idea of the company is to expand its investments while the economic environment is improving. The carriers that grab the interest of AT&T have growth assets, like Telefonica SA. There are rumors that the US carrier has interests to buy mobile operators in Latin America and Ireland as well.
Source: Bloomberg
