LONDON â€" Vodafone announced on Thursday that it had received sufficient investor support to win approval of its 7.7 bilion euros ($10.2 billion) takeover of the German cable operator Kabel Deutschland.
The British telecommunications giant had faced a nervous wait for at least 75 percent of Kabel’s shareholders to tender their shares ahead of a deadline on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, Vodafone said that it had the backing of only around 20 percent of Kabel’s investors, and a number of hedge funds, including Paul Singer’s Elliott Management, had built up large minority stakes in Germany’s largest cable operator.
The initial lackluster shareholder backing for Vodafone’s multi-billion dollar offer, coupled with the hedge funds’ activity, had raised hopes that the British company would have to raise its bid to secure Kabel. The British company plans to use Kabel’s extensive cable network across Germany to beef up its own offerings in Europe’s largest economy.
Yet as the deadline approached, Kabel’s investors finally gave their backing for the deal, and Vodafone confirmed on Thursday that it had secured the minimum 75 percent acceptance needed for the takeover to proceed.
