The board of Spain’s Ono meets tomorrow (11 February) to chew over whether Vodafone’s €7 billion ($9.5 billion) takeover offer is preferable to the cable operator’s plans for an IPO, said Expansion.

The all-cash bid is key to Vodafone’s quadplay strategy where it faces competition in the fight for Europe’s cable assets from Liberty Global.

The mobile operator’s offer of €6.9 billion for 100 per cent of Ono’s share capital is split between a payment to shareholders (€3.48 billion) and reducing debt (€3.42 billion), according to sources.

Vodafone purchased Kabel Deutschland for €7.7 billion last year in pursuit of its quadplay strategy and, in a similar spirit, the operator wants to add Ono’s fixed infrastructure to its mobile business in Spain.

However, as well as the possibility of an IPO, a rival bid from Liberty Global is also a possibility.

The private equity groups of CCMP, Providence, Thomas H. Lee and Quadrangle, which together control 54 per cent Ono, would see a strong return on an investment made in 2005 if they sold to Vodafone but some shareholders still favour an IPO, said the report.