Vodafone rejects merging proposal – Iliad

French Iliad announced on Wednesday that Vodafone had rejected the proposal of merging their Italian units, Reuters reported.

In December the French company announced that it had proposed merger of the Italian businesses, which would have allowed it to take advantage of Vodafone’s strong position in the market and its rapidly expanding customer base coupled with its strength in business.

The telecom company said that it had submitted an updated proposal to form a 50/50 jointly owned business, with Vodafone getting a loan of €2 billion from shareholders and €6.6 billion in cash proceeds. Furthermore, in addition to €400 million in cash proceeds, the French company would have also benefited from a €2 billion shareholder loan.

“The Iliad Group is confident that the offer presented was the best possible business combination to benefit a struggling Italian market and telecommunications industry,” Iliad stated.

Vodafone shares dropped by 2.7 per cent in early deals. The telecom company declined to comment.