Greek merger talks take toll on Vodafone share price

Vodafone shares slipped in a strongly rising market today, as investors reacted to its admission of talks to strike a deal in economically crippled Greece.

The world's biggest mobile company confirmed last night it was plotting a merger of its Greek operations with Wind Hellas Telecoms to bolster Voda's attack on arch rival Deutsche Telekom's Cosmote Mobile operation there.

Vodafone scotched speculation it plans an outright bid, which would have been tough to sell to investors given the state of Greece's economy.

Some analysts cited concerns even at the idea of a no-cash merger.

"I'm not sure getting deeper into the market makes sense," said Fairesearch analyst Heinz Steffen.