askivy_assessment_center_case_study

Company 1: Hellas Mobile
Pros:
• Economies of scale because Vodafone is already present
• Potentially other synergies by combining infrastructure costs and licence acquisition
costs
• Simple as officially for sale
• Acquisition would make Vodafone the no.1 in the country
• High growth and high margins
• Valuation doesn’t seem too high
• Vodafone can afford it (see prior net debt / EBITDA calculation)
• Fits well into Vodafone’s strategy to expand in emerging markets
Cons:
• Some uncertainty about the market performance
• The price could increase significantly because there are many bidders
Overall comment: this is a quite interesting acquisition target for Vodafone, and could
definitely be one that you put forward and propose.
Company 2: German Telekom
Pros:
• Some strong performing businesses in emerging markets
• Geographic and product diversification as they offer broadband and fixed line services
Cons:
• Much too large for Vodafone to acquire
• Fixed line and broadband products are not part of Vodafone’s strategy
• The largest part of the revenues comes from Germany, which is declining. Overall
revenues are not growing much.
• Likely to be politically complicated with the German government owning a stake in the
business
Overall comment: this is definitely not a good target to mention, due to the lack of
strategic fit, the too large size, and the complexity.
Company 3: ThaiTel
Pros:
• Well positioned no.2 player
• Relatively high growth
• Seems to be for sale
• Fits in Vodafone’s strategy to expand in emerging markets as it has no presence in
Thailand yet
• Some potential to acquire some of the smaller competitors down the road to
consolidate the market
• Some potential to improve management as this is family-owned
• Vodafone can afford it
Cons:
• The growth of the market is slowing down
• Competition is getting quite fierce
• The decline in margins is quite worrying
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