June 30, 2008 at 10:00 am by Tom Lydon
France Telecom dropped its takeover bid that, had it gone through, would have created Europe’s largest telecommunications company and perhaps boosted France’s exchange traded fund (ETF) as well.
The bid for Swedish company TeliaSonera was proposed for $42 billion, reports Angela Doland for the Associated Press. If the companies had joined forces, it would have also created the world’s fourth-largest telecommunications operator.
France Telecom investors seemed to be reassured by the dead deal as shares rose, while TeliaSonera shares fell.
Both the iShares MSCI France (EWQ) and the iShares S&P Global Telecommunications (IXP) ETFs were up so far in trading today. France Telecom is 4% of EWQ and and 3% of IXP. The funds are down 15.8% and and 19.4% year-to-date, respectively.
France Telecom is also 4.3% of the NETS CAC40 Index Fund (FRC), which launched on April 16, which is down 8.9% since its inception.
TeliaSonera is 6.4% of the iShares MSCI Sweden (EWD), which is down 15.7% year-to-date.
