Vodafone Portugal Restates PT-SonaeCom Merger Opposition

LISBON -(Dow Jones)- Vodafone's Portugal unit reiterated in a statement late Wednesday that it opposes the merger of Portugal Telecom and SonaeCom being investigated by Portuguese antitrust regulator AdC.

The AdC ruling is expected by the end of August.

PT is the target of a EUR11.1 billion ($14.2 billion) unsolicited bid from SonaeCom. PT's board has rejected the offer, saying it undervalues the company.

Vodafone cites competition concerns as "the merger would create a company with a mobile communications market share superior to 60%," the statement says.

As part of the merger, SonaeCom has requested authorization to merge its Optimus mobile telecommunications unit with PT's TMN unit. Vodafone Portugal is the third operator in the country, after Optimus and TMN, and stands to be most affected should the merger take place.

Vodafone originally urged regulators to halt the merger process March 20, as part of its response to questions from AdC.

-By Filipa Cunha, Dow Jones Newswires; +351 21 319 1863; filipa.cunha@dowjones.com

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Posted to the site on 24th August 2006