MARSEILLE, France (Reuters) - The French and German owners of Britain's largest mobile operator, Everything Everywhere, are not interested in selling and have enough cash to invest in the business, France Telecom's chief executive said on Thursday.
Investment banking sources had told Reuters last week that former chief executive Tom Alexander approached private equity groups six months ago to gauge interest in an 8 billion pound offer for the France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom joint venture.
Investment banking sources said firms Alexander approached included CVC, KKR and Providence, but he gained little traction in such difficult funding conditions.
"We are happy with the joint venture," France Telecom CEO Stephane Richard told journalists. "The Germans are also happy to be there, they do not wish to sell. We do not wish to sell either. If we receive an offer that makes sense, of course we will look at it. But that does not mean we will accept it."
France Telecom's Orange joined forces with Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile in 2010 to become the biggest operator in the competitive British market, with more than 27 million customers.
The group pledged 3.5 billion pounds cost savings, largely by creating one network and taking down excess towers. The synergies have taken time to come through and the group is only now starting to gain traction - on Thursday it announced an additional dividend of 250 million pounds for its parents.
A private equity deal of the size of Everything Everywhere would run against the trend in a market focused on deals under a billion pounds because banks have cut lending.
One person familiar with the thinking of private equity groups this week said it would be near impossible to finance an Everything Everywhere deal in the current market.
France Telecom chief finance officer Gervais Pellissier told Reuters earlier this month the two owners could consider floating a stake in the group although they would likely want to maintain control.
(Reporting by Gwenaelle Barzic; Writing by Kate Holton; Editing by Dan Lalor)
Nokia woes expected to worsen as Lumia won't run Windows Phone 8 - Apple Insider
By Sam Oliver
Published: 11:30 AM EST (08:30 AM PST)Nokia's current flagship phone, the Lumia 900, won't be upgradeable to Microsoft's new Windows Phone 8 platform, leading some to expect Nokia's troubles will grow even more.
Earlier this week, Microsoft formally announced Windows Phone 8, which will launch on new handsets this fall. The operating system upgrade won't be available on existing Windows Phone 7-based devices, which means Nokia's Lumia 900 will be incompatible with the new platform.
Instead, Microsoft plans to offer an update in the form of Windows Phone 7.8 that will add some of the Windows Phone 8 features to the legacy platform. With Windows Phone 7.8, devices like the Lumia 900 will an updated Start screen with customizable tile sizes.
But even though the Lumia 900 will be upgraded to look like a Windows Phone 8 device, the fact that it will not receive all of the new features and functionality is seen as a serious blow to Nokia, which has bet heavily on the Windows Phone platform in its transition away from its own Symbian.
That means Nokia's troubles "could get worse before they get better," a report published Thursday in The Wall Street Journal said. It characterized the Nokia 900's lack of compatibility with Windows Phone 8 as a "major blow" to Nokia.
Malik Saadi, an industry analyst at Information Telecoms & Media, told author Sven Grundberg that many customers will now wait until Windows Phone 8 devices become available in the fall, instead of opting to buy a Nokia Lumia 900 in the meantime.
In contrast, Apple's iPhone 3GS, first released in 2009, will be able to run iOS 6 when Apple releases its own operating system update this fall. While iPhone 3GS owners will get iOS 6, they will lose out on some new features such as built-in turn-by-turn directions, Flyover maps, Shared Photo Streams, Mail VIP lists and flagged smart boxes, and the Safari Offline Reading List.
Microsoft's announcement this week is the latest in a string of bad news for Nokia. A week ago, the Finnish handset maker announced plans to ax 10,000 jobs by the end of 2013 in an effort to cut costs and turn the company around.
Nokia was once the dominant force in smartphones, but failed to respond as the iPhone and devices running Google Android took over the market. The Lumia 900 is a major attempt by Nokia to counter that trend and switch to Windows Phone, but the company warned last week that sales in its "Smart Devices" business segment have been worse than expected, and that issue is expected to continue going into the next quarter.
Nokia and Verizon Team Up with Mobile Spinach to Offer Users In-Line Offers - PRWeb
San Mateo, California (PRWEB) June 21, 2012
Mobile Spinach teams up with Nokia and Verizon to empower apps with a little touch of goodness. Nokia currently powers many of Verizon’s maps and applications, but with the current landscape shifting away from traditional ads, the two companies will utilize Mobile Spinach’s white label application to bring consumers in-line products that make sense to them.
Catering to a system where user’s location and time is taken into consideration, Mobile Spinach’s white label platform is utilized to bring consumers relevant products that are in-line with their current habits. This partnership will enable users to transact with their favorite local merchants right on their phones.
“It’s amazing for us (Mobile Spinach) to work with such an awesome company,” John Vitti, CMO of Mobile Spinach, said in regards to working with Nokia. This partnership will be an interesting look at how the mobile climate is changing from the user’s perspective, especially with what users are looking for on their devices.
ABOUT MOBILE SPINACH
Launched in 2010, Mobile Spinach is a mobile local commerce platform designed to allow local merchants to reach interested consumers. The company currently works with more than 5,000 merchants in 611 cities throughout the United States, and is continuously expanding its reach through high-level partnerships. For more information about the Mobile Spinach experience, visit http://www.mobilespinach.com.
France Tel wants to keep stake in UK venture -CEO - Reuters
MARSEILLE, France (Reuters) - The French and German owners of Britain's largest mobile operator, Everything Everywhere, are not interested in selling and have enough cash to invest in the business, France Telecom's (FTE.PA) chief executive said on Thursday.
Investment banking sources had told Reuters last week that former chief executive Tom Alexander approached private equity groups six months ago to gauge interest in an 8 billion pound ($12.6 billion) offer for the France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) joint venture.
Investment banking sources said firms Alexander approached included CVC, KKR (KKR.N) and Providence, but he gained little traction in such difficult funding conditions.
"We are happy with the joint venture," France Telecom CEO Stephane Richard told journalists. "The Germans are also happy to be there, they do not wish to sell. We do not wish to sell either. If we receive an offer that makes sense, of course we will look at it. But that does not mean we will accept it."
France Telecom's Orange joined forces with Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile in 2010 to become the biggest operator in the competitive British market, with more than 27 million customers.
The group pledged 3.5 billion pounds cost savings, largely by creating one network and taking down excess towers. The synergies have taken time to come through and the group is only now starting to gain traction - on Thursday it announced an additional dividend of 250 million pounds for its parents.
A private equity deal of the size of Everything Everywhere would run against the trend in a market focused on deals under a billion pounds because banks have cut lending.
One person familiar with the thinking of private equity groups this week said it would be near impossible to finance an Everything Everywhere deal in the current market.
France Telecom chief finance officer Gervais Pellissier told Reuters earlier this month the two owners could consider floating a stake in the group although they would likely want to maintain control.
(Reporting by Gwenaelle Barzic; Writing by Kate Holton; Editing by Dan Lalor)
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