Portugal telecom Ballsy conquistador

Students of Olivetti’s hostile takeover of Telecom Italia in 1999 will be experiencing deja vu as they watch Sonae’s E11bn assault on Portugal Telecom. Yet again a ballsy conglomerate has made a highly-leveraged bid for a national carrier many times its size. Yet again, it presumably thinks it can get away with it because it is the only credible local bidder for the national champion. Belmiro de Azevedo, Sonae’s controlling shareholder and Portugal’s richest man, has chosen a good time to strik...