DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica SA (TEF, TEF.MC) has
sweetened its bid for Portugal Telecom SA's (PT, PTC.LB) indirect
stake in Vivo Participacoes SA (VIV) to EUR6.5 billion from its
previous EUR5.7 billion offer.
In a filing to the Portuguese stock market regulator, Portugal
Telecom said it has received Telefonica's revised bid.
The new proposal comes with two alternatives: one for an
immediate sale of PT's entire stake and another to be executed at
PT's sole discretion during a three-year period, the Portuguese
company said.
A person close to the situation had told Dow Jones Newswires
earlier Tuesday that Telefonica was planning to raise its bid on
the two companies' Brasilcel joint venture to between EUR5.9
billion and EUR6.8 billion
Telefonica previously offered EUR5.7 billion for PT's half of
Brasilcel, a holding company that owns about 60% of Brazilian
cellphone operator Vivo, an offer which PT promptly rejected.
-By Enza Tedesco, Dow Jones Newswires;
enza.tedesco@dowjones.com