Portugal Asks State Bank To Vote Against Vivo Stake Sale Bid
June 25 2010 - 7:51AM
Dow Jones News
Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates said Friday the
government has asked state-owned bank Caixa Geral de Depositos to
vote against a bid from Telefonica SA (TEF) to buy Portugal Telecom
SGPS S/A's (PT) stake in a Brazilian phone company.
PT shareholders will meet next week to vote on Telefonica's
EUR6.5 billion offer for PT's stake in mobile phone company Vivo
Participacoes SA (VIV, VIVO4.BR). Caixa Geral de Depositos is one
of PT's core shareholders, along with Portuguese bank Banco
Espirito Santo SA (BES.LB).
Telefonica and PT have been locked in a power struggle over
Brazil's coveted telecommunications market, which is key to their
future growth prospects. Both companies control Vivo through a
50-50 joint venture in the investment vehicle Brasilcel, which owns
60% of Vivo.
Socrates said in Parliament that Portugal's strategic interest
is linked to the dimension and scale of PT.
The Spanish telecoms giant recently decided to sell 8% of PT
ahead of next week's shareholder meeting. Citing a conflict of
interest, PT officials have hinted they would move to bar
Telefonica from voting on its own offer.
Senior PT executives have also said Telefonica's offer doesn't
value Vivo appropriately. Telefonica's earlier bid of EUR5.7
billion was rejected by PT's board last month.
Company website: www.telecom.pt
-Contributed by Webtexto to Dow Jones Newswires; +34-91-395
8120; djmadrid@dowjones.com
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