Shares in France T?l?com fell sharply yesterday as markets anticipated its involvement in a bidding war for TeliaSonera after the Nordic communications group rejected a merger proposal from its French counterpart.
Amid speculation that France T?l?com will have to raise its offer and claims that other bidders may join the race, TeliaSonera stock surged to close up 6.02 per cent at SKr57.25.
The battle for the company formed in 2002 by a merger of Sweden’s Telia and Finland’s Sonera is likely to fuel the telecoms sector consolidation highlighted by Verizon’s planned acquisition of Alltel in the US, analysts said.
T?l?com said it had made a friendly approach to TeliaSonera’s board in the hope of creating the world’s third-biggest telecoms operator, with 237 million customers in