AMSTERDAM -(Dow Jones)- A counter bid by Dutch incumbent telecommunications operator Royal KPN NV (KPN) for U.K. mobile operator O2 PLC, is "out of the question," KPN spokesman Marinus Potman said Monday.
"That would mean we'd have to top Telefonica SA's GBP17.7 billion cash bid and we don't even have to think about that," Potman said.
KPN and O2 are fighting for the No. 3 spot in the German mobile market behind Deutsche Telekom AG (DT) and the U.K.'s Vodafone Group PLC.
In August, talks between KPN and Deutsche Telekom on a potential joint bid for O2 ended because the two couldn't agree on the price of O2's German operations.
KPN made a bid on its own for O2 in 2004, which O2 rejected.
-By Stefan Simons, Dow Jones Newswires; 31 20 6260770; stefan.simons@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires "
Posted to the site on 31st October 2005
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/14628.php