Vodafone sets its terms

The British mobile phone giant Vodafone AirTouch yesterday said that its proposed takeover of the German conglomerate Mannesmann no longer hung on European regulatory approval and would become active on Friday. The €137-billion bid will be the biggest corporate takeover in history if it wins the backing of Mannesmann shareholders. Vodafone published formal details of its planned offer and stated that its final offer for Mannesmann was worth 53.7 Vodafone AirTouch shares for each Mannesmann share. The British company said that its offer "is no longer conditional upon clearance from the European Commission".