By Ian Walker and Najat Kantouar


Vodafone Group shares dropped and are leading the FTSE 100 index fallers after the company rejected a revised proposal to merge its Italian businesses with Iliad Group's.

At 0945 GMT, shares were down 2.46 pence, or 3.59%, at 66.21 pence. Over the past 12 months, shares were down 29%.

The European telecom company said Wednesday that under the new proposal Vodafone would get 6.6 billion euros ($7.16 billion) in cash and EUR2.0 billion of shareholder loan while Iliad would get EUR400 million of cash and EUR2.0 billion of shareholder loan.

It said that Vodafone failed to accept this offer.

However, Vodafone said that it is no longer in talks with Iliad, but talks with others continue. "We said in December that we are exploring options with several parties in Italy. We are no longer in talks with Iliad, but our discussions with others continue," it said.

Iliad Group said that Iliad Italia will now pursue its stand-alone strategy building-on its track record.

In December, Iliad Group said that it was planning to create a new company jointly owned with Vodafone that will combine their Italian businesses. The proposal had the support of its board and main shareholder Xavier Niel.

Under the previous proposal, Vodafone would get EUR6.5 billion in cash and a EUR2.0 billion shareholder loan. Iliad would get EUR500 million in cash and a EUR2.0 billion shareholder loan.


Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com and Najat Kantouar at najat.kantouar@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-31-24 0502ET