In 1999, Vodafone AirTouch took over German giant,
Mannesmann AG, who produced seamless steel pipes and products as such. The deal
had been given many names. For all we know, it was not a deal at all! Vodafone
calls it a friendly merger, when it was actually a hostile takeover! I am
pretty sure that when the workers of Mannesmann took to the streets with
banners protesting against the deal, it was far from friendly!
The tries in fact started 3 months earlier, in the dawn of
late 1999, when Vodafone had first identified Mannesmann as a target. After
months of fierce negotiation in vain, the British cell phone carrier had not
much of an option but to try their efforts in something more hostile. After buying up almost $203 billion worth of
the company, Mannesmann, German steel producer and leading in the industry,
surrendered to Vodafone. Vodafone had successfully acquired Mannesmann, but it
was not over there! The Mannesmann workers gathered and took to the streets in
protests against the takeover, and cussed Vodafone and their business. This,
not even leaving a scratch on their reputation, had no effect, leading Vodafone
to sell of its steel manufacturing, and taking it in, as part of the Vodafone
group.
This, to date, is the largest recorded corporate takeover,
worth approximately 202.8 billion US dollars.
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| http://www.dw.de/all-acquitted-in-mannesmann-trial/a-1273617 |
http://www.investmentweek.co.uk/investment-week/news/2144492/the10-largest-deals
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