Shares of Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ: VOD) are down more than 3% this morning following a denial from Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) that it and AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) were discussing a joint bid for the U.K. mobile carrier. The Financial Times Alphaville blog reported the story yesterday and we covered it here.

Vodafone’s CEO has said that he wants the company to exit joint ventures where Vodafone does not own a controlling interest. The company owns 45% of Verizon Wireless, while Verizon owns the majority stake.

Verizon probably cannot afford to merge with Vodafone by itself. Such a deal would be valued at around $245 billion and would ladle on the debt. Instead, Verizon appears to want only Vodafone’s stake in Verizon Wireless, which carries an estimated value of $115 billion.

Under European rules, Verizon’s statement that it is not considering a merger with Vodafone bars the U.S. company from making an offer for six months, with a few exceptions.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.