LONDON - Vodafone is turning out to be a persistent suitor.
The British telecommunications giant has submitted a tentative offer for the Spanish cable company Ono that values it at around 7 billion euros, or $10 billion, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The prospective bid will entail fast-tracked due diligence by Vodafone over the weekend. Ono’s board meets on Thursday to consider whether to approve an initial public offering, and a formal offer would have to be submitted before the meeting, the people said.
Rumors have circulated in recent months that Vodafone would make an offer for Ono, which would allow Vodafone to compete with Telefónica of Spain to offer high-speed broadband to its Spanish customers.
Despite the interest, Ono’s board has repeatedly stressed that it continues to focus on a potential I.P.O.
“The major reason for the I.P.O. is to have financial flexibility,†Ono’s chief executive, RosalÃa Portela, said in an interview on Wednesday. “The bigger you are, the easier it is to get capital.â€
But bankers and analysts have said that the company’s shareholders â€" which include private equity firms like Providence Equity Partners, CCMP Capital Advisors and Thomas H. Lee Partners â€" may prefer a sale to a larger telecoms rival over a potentially risky listing on the Madrid stock exchange.
Ono’s board is expected to discuss the existing I.P.O. plans at Thursday’s meeting. If Vodafone can complete an agreement with Ono’s majority shareholders, that proposed offer would also be discussed, according to one person with direct knowledge of the matter.
Representatives for Vodafone and Ono declined to comment on the takeover rumors.
Vodafone’s prospective bid for Ono is the second multibillion-dollar takeover effort in Europe’s telecoms industry this week.
On Thursday, the French media and telecoms conglomerate Vivendi said it had received two offers for SFR, its cellphone unit, that could value the business at more than $20 billion. The rival bids were made by the European cable and cellphone operator Altice and the French construction and cellphone company Bouygues.
Despite Europe’s tepid economic recovery, the Continent’s cellphone and cable sectors have provided some relief for local deal makers.
Announced takeovers involving such companies have reached $194 billion in the 12 months through March 7, a fourfold increase from the period a year earlier, according to data from Thomson Reuters. The figure is somewhat skewed because of Vodafone’s $130 billion sale of its 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless last year.
