Hallmann, however, then predicted the current offer could be the beginnings of a compromise that would allow the two companies to try again in a year or two if Vodafone fails in its bid on Feb. 7. Hallmann did not believe it was in either company's interest to destroy their relationship. The only winners would be Deutsche Telekom and Telecom Italia if Vodafone and Mannesmann could not work together in their jointly-owned mobile phone companies in Germany and Italy. The most comprehensive scan of investors' intentions so far must be the search carried out by the German weekly Wirtschaftswoche. Thursday's edition comes complete with a photo of journalist Juergen Berke, proudly posing with his 25-yard printout of the 5,000 individual fund names supplied by Canada's Thomson Securities Financial Data.
German investors make up about a third.
The biggest single shareholder is Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa-formerly the owner of Mannesmann's subsidiary Orange. The magazine opined that if Frankfurt votes for Mannesmann and London votes for Vodafone, then the decision will be made in the United States. But more and more investors were switching to Vodafone, the magazine reported. Mannesmann could rely only on its big German investors, Hutchison Whampoa, and those U.S. investors with a larger shareholding in Mannesmann than in Vodafone, said the report. America's Capital Research, the second biggest shareholder, would probably stay with Mannesmann, the magazine argues.