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(Reuters) -British group Vodafone said on Thursday it had rejected a preliminary approach from French telecom group Iliad and private equity firm Apax Partners to buy its Italian business, saying that it was “not in the best interests of shareholders”.
A source told Reuters on Wednesday that Iliad, founded by billionaire Xavier Nie, had offered more than 11 billion euros ($12.54 billion) to buy Vodafone Italy.
Vodafone did not disclose the size of the bid in its statement on Thursday.
“Vodafone continues to pragmatically pursue several value accretive in-market consolidation opportunities to deliver sustainable market structures in its major European markets, including Italy,” the company said.
Iliad’s bid, which was first reported by the Financial Times, comes as Italy’s biggest phone group Telecom Italia (TIM) is assessing a 10.8 billion euro takeover approach from U.S. fund KKR.
($1 = 0.8771 euros)
Reporting by Muhammed Husain and Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel
