Vodafone's $11-billion spending spree only goes so far

Hope springs eternal

Reuters

Chocolate (bid-ask) spread

Nokia boss gets golden parachute without ejecting

Uneven Stephens

Business Standard

Nokia smartly leaves phone fightback to Microsoft

Unexpected Finnish

Vodafone gets it: cash is king for wary investors

Cash is king

WPP can sit out this bout of adland M&AWPP can sit out the sudden bout of adland M&A. Publicis and Omnicom's planned $35-billion merger would shunt the British group down to second in the global advertising business. That must gall WPP boss Martin Sorrell, who has built an industry leader through scores of deals. But the merits of gatecrashing the Publicis Omnicom tie-up, or buying a smaller rival as a consolation prize, look dubious. And WPP could benefit just by doing nothing.Sorrell has three options. The first would be to intervene directly in this cuddly, nil-premium union, offering a richer takeover bid for either Publicis or Omnicom. But the sums would be huge: $20 billion or more, assuming a $3-billion premium. That would be a stretch for WPP, which is worth $24 billion. The premium would have to be justified by stripping out far more costs than Publicis Omnicom envisage. Regulators would surely be sceptical. Without the support of top shareholder Elisabeth Badinter or

Me too? Maybe not

"Equality" in Big Ad merger may be hard to sustain

On an equal footing?

Will the music ever stop for Vivendi's bosses?

Sound strategies

Network effects

Savings make Vodafone's Kabel deal palatableCost savings make Vodafone's punchy bid for Kabel Deutschland palatable. The London-listed mobile giant has offered a hefty euro 10.7 billion ($14.0 billion), including debt, for Germany's largest cable operator. Sceptics think Vodafone can be ponderous and profligate in M&A. But this looks acceptable - provided Vodafone can reap the promised financial benefits.The euro 87-a-share offer, which Kabel Deutschland's boards plan to recommend, values the company's equity at euro 7.7 billion. With debts of euro 3 billion, the enterprise value is 12.4 times Ebitda for the year ended March 2013, or 11 times current year figures.These are huge multiples. Between floating in 2010 and the point when Vodafone's interest emerged last February, Kabel Deutschland traded at an average 7.7 times forward Ebitda. Liberty Global, the international cable group, paid eight times forward Ebitda - or roughly $24 billion - for Virgin Media earlier in the year.Sti

Cable bills

Vodafone vs Malone clash looms in German cable

Snafu of Liberty

Phone-y war

BT's free sports gambit tries to out-Sky Sky

Blood sport

IMF devalues own advice with warnings overload

Crying wolf

Deal prospects make Vodafone look cheapDeal prospects make Vodafone look cheap. An optimistic reading of the underlying valuations suggests M&A could deliver shareholders in the London-listed mobile giant perhaps 35 per cent more value than they have now. That's an extra Â£31.5 billion ($47.6 billion). But unlocking this would entail huge deals and huge headaches to match.Vodafone and US partner Verizon Communications formed joint venture Verizon Wireless (VZW) in 1999. In recent years the JV has grown impressively, while Vodafone's other businesses have flagged. As the two arms of the company have diverged, M&A speculation has grown. Some talk about a sale of some or all of Vodafone's 45 per cent stake in VZW. Others envisage a full-blown takeover of Vodafone by Verizon Communications. Others mull a breakup of Vodafone orchestrated by Verizon and AT&T. Verizon rejected this last, latest idea this week. Still, the chatter highlights the gulf between Vodafone's current valua

Done roaming?

Maybe 'Gucci' didn't work. But 'Kering': really?

We Ker a lot

Different class

Heinz deal suggests Big Food deserves a fresh look

Food for thought

Murdoch and Malone make better allies than rivalsWhat if John Malone and Rupert Murdoch play nice? It looks as if the media moguls might be set to square off again, as Maloneâ€™s Liberty Global is trying to buy Virgin Media, a $20 billion-plus competitor to the Murdoch-backed BSkyB. Look closer, though, and these two British companies complement each other. If they could collaborate, the real loser would be third rival BT.Murdochâ€™s sway in Britain has deterred Malone from making a move in the past: when the cable king considered buying Virgin Media in 2007, he referred acidly to Murdochâ€™s â€œDeath Starâ€-like presence. Clearly things have changed - and not just because phone-hacking has eroded the Australianâ€™s political capital.Libertyâ€™s target actually has a decent relationship with BSkyB, which is 39 per cent-owned by Murdochâ€™s News Corp. Virgin sold its own TV channels to BSkyB and carries the broadcasterâ€™s channels, among others. And

Frenemies

A deal setback for Anheuser-Busch InBev may ironically hasten a last round of consolidation in beer. The US Department of Justice opposes AB InBev&rsquo;s $20 billion plan to buy out the other half of Grupo Modelo, the Mexican group behind Corona. The world&rsquo;s largest brewer may yet find a workable compromise. But if not, an obvious plan B exists: the long-rumoured takeout of SABMiller.

Quentin Webb

Quentin Webb

Page 4 - Quentin Webb

Hope springs eternal

Chocolate (bid-ask) spread

Uneven Stephens

Unexpected Finnish

Cash is king

Me too? Maybe not

On an equal footing?

Sound strategies

Network effects

Cable bills

Snafu of Liberty

Phone-y war

Blood sport

Blood sport

Crying wolf

Done roaming?

We Ker a lot

Different class

Food for thought

Frenemies