The Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Group Plc – Vittorio Colao claims that the company has underwent through transformation over the past couple of years. Mr. Colao endorses that the company evolved from a mobile operator and is now also focused on broadband and TV markets.
The cable acquisitions of Vodafone Group Plc in Germany and Spain, which amount to a total of about 25 billion dollars, are considered to be a sign for a major invasion of the company in Europe, which is to be followed by strengthening Vodafones presence in Italy. The latter is reported to be the third-largest market of the company on the territory of Europe by sales, after Germany and the U.K.
However, Vodafones CEO claims that the company is not focused on constant acquisitions. He said in an interview that was cited by the Wall Street Journal: “The next steps are not just about mergers and acquisitions. In every country, we have a very pragmatic approach to providing unified services through a combination of buy, build and lease.” As the Financial Times reported, he explained: “We are evolving quickly. I am pleased with the speed of change at Vodafone. It is a different company than it was two years ago. The shareholder reactions are positive to all the deals.”
On Monday this week, the company officially announced that it had reached an agreement to purchase the Spanish cable operator Ono SA in a deal estimated to 7.2 billion euros (10 billion dollars). The announcement came less than half a year after the company finalized the acquisition of Kabel Deutschland Holding AG. Onos purchase is the third one for Vodafone after the acquisitions of Cable & wireless Wordlwide and Kabel Deutschland Holding AG. The series of take-overs makes analysts think the company wont stop here and will proceed to Italy, due to Europes importance to Vodafone Group, especially after the exit of the company from the U.S.
One of the analysts working for Macquarie Bank Ltd – Guy Peddy said for Bloomberg: “Italy is a substantial asset, it has been a major drag with those revenues being down. What they’ve announced in Italy to date is a self-build, self-help strategy; the number of local infrastructure plays to acquire is limited.”
Vodafone Group Plc was down 1.00% by 10:02 GMT in London to trade at 223.74 pence, marking a one-year change of -34.04%. The company has a market value of 59.75 billion pounds. According to the Financial Times, the 17 analysts offering 12-month price targets for Vodafone Group Plc have a median target of GBX 250.00, with a high estimate of GBX 290.00 and a low estimate of GBX 215.00. The median estimate represents a 10.62% increase from the previous close of GBX 226.00.
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