You were intrigued when you heard that FranceTelecom was interested in buying out TeliaSonera. You cried with us when Telia immediately rejected that offer. You perked up with a glimmer of hope when we discovered FT was throwing more cash into the pot to sweeten the deal.

Now, finally, we have what we believe to be the final post in this ensuing saga of acquisition and heartbreak, as the talks between the two powers ended almost as quickly as they began.

We told you that we would hear news about the offer by today at the latest, and the Wall Street Journal did not disappoint for us when it reported that TeliaSonera’s board decided on Sunday evening that the new offer, while a “marginal” increase, was still too low.

But worry not everyone; FT isn’t through with its search for companies to buy up. The company is indeed turning its sights on smaller acquisitions, from Algeria to Vietnam to Egypt. So who knows what FranceTelecom has up its sleeve, but we’ll keep an eye out for you.

via WSJ

Three weeks after TeliaSonera told France Telecom they were not interested in being bought out for $41 billion, we have discovered FT is not about to give up so easily. The strategy: throw more cash into the pot.

Reuters reported this evening that the two companies are once again in talks now that France Telecom wants to add more worms to its fishing line. The fact that they are in talks says a lot, considering the first offer was rejected by TeliaSonera’s chairman immediately.

It will be interesting to see how much extra cash has to be added to change Telia’s mind about being purchased. We doubt it will be a small amount, but FT did mention it has limited resources to offer.

Look for the talks to be settled within the next couple days. Check back with Unwired View for the latest information on the verdict.

via Reuters via Engadget Mobile

TeliaSonera is finally beginning to reveal some of their plans for the iPhone in anticipation of the launch. From what it looks like, the Swedish carrier of the Apple mobile telephone will offer three different plans.

The plans are nicknamed Imini, Imidi and Imaxi. According to our source, these three different plans do not have any pricing yet, but they will be fixed monthly plans. The iPhone will priced differently for each of these three plans. We assume, as it has been announced in other countries, that the higher rate plans will get the phone for a lower price.

Imini will offer 100 minutes, 100 SMS and 100 MB of data per month. Imidi gives you 250 minutes, 250 SMS and 250 MB of data. Imaxi brings 1000 minutes, 1000 SMS and — you guessed it — 1000 MB of data. Pretty straight-forward plans, indeed.

In addition, these subscriptions will also offer access to TeliaSonera’s WiFi hotspots.

via Mobil

This past Friday we broke the news that France Telecom was interested in buying out Swedish Telecom company TeliaSonera for the tune of $42 billion. Turns out that the deal went south.

Marketwatch reported that TeliaSonera’s board and the Swedish government (who own 37% of the company) actually rejected the offer almost immediately. They decided the offer “significantly undervalues” their business; the Finnish government, a 13.7% shareholder, has not yet commented.

Interestingly, FranceTelecom’s CEO was not so shocked at the rejection (talk about a man who handles rejection well!), and said the talks will continue. FT also claimed their intentions were friendly and had no hopes of a hostile takeover. As IntoMobile puts it, “when you think about it doesn’t make much sense when your primary shareholder is another government that may also have some other, non-economic interests.”

If the deal were to go through, this would be France Telecom’s biggest acquisition since it purchased Orange in 2000.

via MarketWatch via IntoMobile

‘Tis the season for buying telecom companies! In breaking news out of Europe early this morning, France Telecom has made an offer to buy up Swedish phone company TeliaSonera for the tune of around $42 billion (252 billion kroner). There has not been any public offering yet, however a proposal has been sent to the suits of the company for consideration.

According to the WSJ, such an acquisition would give France Telecom around 237 million customers, thus becoming Europe’s largest telecom company by revenue. No decision has been made yet. This move coincidentally was made known the day after news broke that Verizon is in talks to buy out Alltel in attempt to become the U.S.’s largest telecom company.

By purchasing TeliaSonera, France Telecom would have an impressive European footprint stretching from the Arctic down to the Indian Ocean. We will keep you posted on any major breakthroughs in the upcoming days.

via Wall Street Journal (subscription needed) and the AP

A deal between Apple and Teliasonera that was announced today tells us that eager customers from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are going to get some official iPhone lovin’ “later this year.”

The above mentioned countries all belong to the Nordic and Baltic markets, but other regions such as Spain, Russia, and Turkey have been left out of Teliasonera’s offering.

We are also hearing rumors that there are certain carriers in some Baltic countries with very close ties to Vodafone, and that these might still emerge with a deal to market the iPhone themselves. However, at this point we have not yet confirmed these rumors.

No other details have been provided with regards to specific date of availability and future pricing. And all these we shall include in an update.

Via Teliasonera