Vodafone planning formal takeover bid for Tiscali

According to reports from the Italian press, Vodafone is due to make a formal offer for the Italian broadband outfit.

A successful bid would be a good acquisition for the company, and make Vodafone one of the largest players in the fixed-line broadband services market, allowing it to compete with the likes of BT, Carphone Warehouse, Virgin Media and BSkyB.

There are thought to be at least 5 other companies shortlisted for the auction to buy Tiscali, including BT Group, BSkyB, Fastweb SpA and Wind.  Carphone Warehouse was not shortlisted as its offer of £550 Million was rejected.  Analysts expect Tiscali to go for a price tag of around £1.3bn for the entire company, including UK and Italian operations.

Tiscali is currently the fourth largest broadband provider in the UK with around 1.2 million customers.