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AT&T tells British regulator it is not pursuing Vodafone

LONDON, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- U.S. telecommunications giant AT&T Inc., said Monday it had no immediate plans to buy Britain's Vodafone Group.

Speculation that AT&T was ready to make Vodafone an offer intensified last week, when an executive in the telecommunications field said that AT&T was doing preliminary legal work to prepare for a bid, the Wall Street Journal reported.

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AT&T's statement Monday was made in response to a request from the U.K. Takeover Panel. By stating to the regulator that AT&T was not making bid soon, the company is barred from making a bid for Vodafone for six months.

The company's denial that it had immediate plans to make an offer failed to put the rumors to rest.

"The AT&T statement has further fueled the talk that it plans a bid for Vodafone in the second half of the year," the executive told the Journal.

AT&T Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephenson has said in meetings with investors that he is interested in the company making a major move into the European market.

Last Tuesday, Stephenson had dinner with the European Commission's top telecommunications regulator Neelie Kroes.

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At the dinner, Stephenson made it known he was interested in making in-roads into the European market, but there were few direct details discussed, sources told the Journal.

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