Vodafone buys up rest of Arcor

Monster mobile carrier Vodafone said Monday that it has agreed to acquire the remaining 26.4 per cent interest in German fixed line operator Arcor for Eur474m in cash.

Such a move has been on the cards for some years now. At the CeBit trade show in 2006 Vodafone Germany’s chief executive suggested it was possible there would be an integration between mobile operator Vodafone Germany and fixed line operator Arcor in the future.

The Big V has bought the remaining shares off Deutsche Bahn and Deutsche Bank, and with full ownership of Arcor, Vodafone can lay claim to some 2.6 million DSL lines, representing 14 per cent of the market.

Vodafone head honcho Arun Sarin said the deal would allow Vodafone Germany to further exploit potential synergies in the fixed-mobile space.

“This deal is consistent with our total communications strategy. By taking full control of Arcor and aligning it more closely with Vodafone Germany we will leverage the greater scale this presents, and generate synergies and substantial time to market benefits within Europe’s largest telecommunications market,” Sarin said.