DENVER-The posturing continued last week among the players interested in buying AirTouch
Communications Inc.
The Financial Times reported Vodafone Group plc is considering sweetening its $55 billion
offer for AirTouch and structuring the deal as an acquisition rather than a merger. The newspaper said the move may
have been triggered by an increased offer from Bell Atlantic Corp. for AirTouch.
Meanwhile, other published
reports indicate Bell Atlantic has received preliminary indications from the Securities and Exchange Commission it
might be able to use a favorable accounting method in its bid for AirTouch. Analysts have said Bell Atlantic most
likely would prefer to use a pooling of interests transaction for a tie-up with AirTouch.
AirTouch has confirmed it
has received proposals from Bell Atlantic and Vodafone, although none of the three players has disclosed any firm
bidding prices.
AirTouch Paging
The possibility of AirTouch merging with Vodafone or Bell Atlantic raises
questions about what may happen to AirTouch’s paging unit once a deal is completed, especially since it is the only
profitable paging business in the country, pending SkyTel Communications Inc.’s fourth-quarter earnings
announcement.
If Bell Atlantic walks away with AirTouch, the question becomes even more relevant since Bell
Atlantic sold its paging interests to a company now called Aquis Communications Corp. (formerly BAP Acquisition
Inc.), a strong indication Bell Atlantic has no desire to operate a paging network.
Vodafone, on the other hand,
operates a paging network throughout most of the United Kingdom and may be more willing to keep AirTouch’s paging
business.
AirTouch Paging has about 3.3 million units in service and is the 5th largest paging carrier in the country.
Bell Atlantic, had only 240,000 units in service and was ranked 15th in last year’s RCR Paging Carriers Top 20
list.
In other news, AirTouch increased its indirect ownership interest in Omnitel Pronto Italia to 17.8 percent from
15.5 percent. The company also has an additional option to increase its ownership to 21.7 percent by the third quarter.
