As said many time in multiple threads.
This has been kicked around by the speculators ever since Vodafone Offloaded their stake in Verizon.
If they had moved for Liberty then they could have bought the whole thing for cash.
But they didn't, they've given a load of cash back to shareholders, and committed funding to invest in their network, which is sorely needed.
That means any deal now would have with shares. Which may or may not be attractive to shareholders. Also as Liberty has grown it has accumulated a fair amount of debt, which again may put off shareholders.
Then there is potential competition issues in each country, they may have to sell of bits of Liberty that they've just bought.
I hope this deal doesn't go through as I don't think it would be good for anyone. There is a lot speculation though, especially over the last 24hrs. When you read in to the piece though the opening paragraph sort of lays it out.
Quote:
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No formal negotiations with Liberty are under way, there’s no guarantee a deal will be reached, and valuation and regulatory issues remain key obstacles, the people said.
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The story seems to be based on the premise that Vodafone have had a meeting to discuss whether or not they should bid for Liberty. So still a long way off if at all.