The United States’s largest independent cellular carrier in early January entertained bids from two potential buyers in what could become a global bidding war.
AirTouch Communications Inc. confirmed it was in discussions with Bell Atlantic Corp. for a possible tie-up and later confirmed it had received a proposal from Britain’s Vodafone Group plc.
Bell Atlantic reportedly is willing to bid US$45 billion for AirTouch, or about US$72 per share, while the Vodafone counteroffer was said to be about US$54 billion, or US$90 per share. No firm bid prices have been confirmed by any of the players.
A marriage between Bell Atlantic and AirTouch would create the largest wireless carrier in the United States, with about 18 million wireless subscribers, including more than 5 million subscribers from the pending merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE Corp.
A marriage between Vodafone and AirTouch potentially would create the largest wireless operator in Europe.
“In addition to being the largest U.K. operator, Vodafone also has significant ownership interests in other Western European markets as well as Australia and Hong Kong,” said a Strategy Analytics report. “AirTouch has European assets including ownership share in Belgium, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Poland and Spain.”
Vodafone and AirTouch also are partners in Globalstar L.P., a mobile satellite services company.
