Vodafone makes £5.8bn offer for Ono

Reports suggest that the UK-based group is preparing to spend some of the proceeds of its £78bn sale of its stake in US mobile phone operator Verizon Wireless.

It comes days after chief executive Vittorio Colao said the Verizon deal would leave Vodafone well positioned and with “the financial and strategic flexibility to make further investments in the business or returns to shareholders in the future”.

Sources told the Sunday Times that the formal offer for Ono will be discussed by the Spanish firm’s board tomorrow.

According to the newspaper, Vodafone has for several weeks been negotiating with its backers including buyout firms and the industrial giant GE. Vodafone declined to comment.

But the Ono move if confirmed would underline its desire to shore up its operations by acquiring cable companies after it snapped up Germany’s Kabel Deutschland last year.