Shareholders in Portugal Telecom yet again turned down an Eur11.8bn hostile takeover bid from smaller rival Sonaecom on Friday.

Portugal Telecom has fended off increasingly larger bids from Sonaecom for around a year now, always saying that the offers were too low.

The Portuguese incumbent said it would distribute some Eur6.2bn to shareholders over the next three years through dividends and a share buyback programme if they voted against the takeover.