Iliad put the offer on the table due to earlier statements by Vodafone boss Nick Read. He has previously called for “the consolidation of some fragmented European telecommunications markets”. Read is currently under great pressure from the Supervisory Board to demand improved financial results.
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In addition, the activist investor Cevian Capital, which is trying to restructure the entire company, increased its stake in Vodafone at the end of January. So there was probably no better time to offer to buy Italian activities.
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It will remain unheard, at least in the case of the Iliad. According to the brokerage company Barclays Capital, Vodafone’s Italian activities are worth only 6.9 billion euros.
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With a share of about 8%, Iliad is the fourth largest mobile operator in Italy. Vodafone, on the other hand, has a share of around 28 percent in the Italian market.
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Aggressive pricing policy
Iliad started operating on the Italian market only in 2018. However, he immediately took a significant share of the market with his aggressive pricing policy.
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The tariff with unlimited calling and a package of 30 GB of data was offered for only CZK 160. It was, of course, an introductory offer, where the operator tried to gain a sufficient number of customers. The tariff first offered to a million customers, but after a month and a half it added another 200,000 SIM cards because it was sold out.
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Iliad still offers very attractive tariffs. For example, for 120 GB of data, unlimited calls and SMS messages, the operator charges less than CZK 220.
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