Vodafone Mulls Higher Bid for Mannesmann

Rejected but undeterred, Vodafone AirTouch is crafting a fresh proposal to acquire Germany’s Mannesmann and hopes to make a sweetened offer by the end of the week, a senior executive of the British company said. Vodafone, the world’s largest mobile phone business, would not indicate how much it would be willing to pay in its second effort to woo Mannesmann. The German engineering and telecommunications group rebuffed Vodafone’s previous all-stock bid, worth more than $70 billion based on Tuesday’s stock prices. “If we have the chance to make a case to Mannesmann’s shareholders, we hope they will see the logic of putting the two companies together,” said Peter Bamford, chief executive of Vodafone’s British operations. Vodafone previously offered 43.7 of its shares for each Mannesmann share, valuing the all-stock bid at $77 billion. Since then, Vodafone shares have dropped, closing at $4.38 on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Vodafone’s American depositary receipts, which trade at a 10-1 ratio, fell $3.62 to close at $43.88 on the New York Stock Exchange.