Vodafone AirTouch Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Vodafone AirTouch - Essay Example Vodafone currently has equity interests in 27 countries and Partner Networks (networks in which it has no equity stake) in a further 40 countries. It has achieved this status in about three decades with a spate of acquisitions and takeovers. This vertical expansion has never been let up since its formative years and has become its planned positioning strategy in its objective of becoming and possibly remaining number one globally.  Although Vodafone was always on the lookout for expanding its reach and its markets, the opportunity provided to it by the takeover of the US AirTouch was unique. When it took over AirTouch, it automatically acquired AirTouch’s stake in Mannesmann, the largest German telecom operator.  In the corporate world, companies have become marketable commodities. They are seen as commodities in terms of their financial contribution to increasing corporate value on the stock market. Corporates buy one another by way of merger in a friendly mutually agreed environment, or hostile takeovers during corporate wars, to augment their resources, power and market reach. Markets for corporate control create new opportunities for corporate managers to exercise power but they make the relatively little contribution toward improving managerial efficiency. In all cases, the intention is to grow vertically to become global players. It appears that the world is moving towards the eventual division of market share between a few global players in each field of economic activity. Apparently, economies of scale as foreseen and foretold by Adam Smith (1776) have not just come true but are being pursued to the next level. In the Telecom industry to it appears that between five to eight players will eventually control the global markets.  In June 1999 Vodafone bought the number two US wireless operator for 62 billion dollars cash plus stock transaction, the biggest ever deal of its time.