Vodafone eyes Tim Brasil
Vodafone, the listed UK telco, is eyeing Tim Brasil, the mobile phone Brazilian subsidiary of Telecom Italia, Italian language daily Il Messaggero reported. The item cited an article in the online version of Brazilian daily O Estado de San Paolo. The report claimed that the Estado article said that Vodafone expressed interest in Tim Brasil to the Brazilian government in a meeting in the Brazilian embassy in London on 31 July.
The report said that the Brazilian government had hoped Vodafone would commit to taking part in an auction for the country's 4G network but that Vodafone said it was more interested in acquiring one of Brazil's three mobile phone companies.
The report noted that Telecom Italia (TI) is looking to merge Tim Brasil with GVT, the Brazilian mobile phone subsidiary owned by Vivendi in a deal that would see Vivendi become the largest shareholder in TI. The report said that Spanish telco Telefonica, presently TI's largest shareholder, has made Vivendi an offer for GVT.
Source Il Messaggero