Telefonica to Buy O2 For $31.39 Billion

[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jason Singer jason.singer@wsj.com and Keith Johnson keith.johnson@wsj.com]
Telefonica, the world's fifth-largest telecommunications company, has agreed to buy British cellphone operator O2 for $31.39 billion. The deal is part of Telefonica's efforts to expand in Europe after years of building its business in Latin America. The agreed cash deal represents a 22% premium to O2's share price at the close of trade Friday. The deal ends years of speculation about O2's future. O2, the star performer in the European mobile telecoms sector over the past three years, has attracted attention from German telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom and Dutch incumbent operator KPN over the past two years. Telefonica will acquire O2's assets in the UK, Germany and Ireland, and won't face the same regulatory hurdles as other rumored bidders as Telefonica doesn't operate in those markets.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113071884591883825.html?mod=todays_us_page_one
(requires subscription)