Few would value the phrase "great fit" at £4bn. But after Liberty Global chairman John Malone used it to describe Vodafone (VOD), mounting speculation of a mega-merger between the US cable giant and the UK mobile operator sent the latter's shares up 12 per cent in three days.
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Analysts at Jefferies think Mr Malone is deliberately "floating a test balloon" to gauge shareholders' interest and alert Vodafone's management that he's open to discussion. The veteran business magnate is certainly aware of the barriers to such a deal: he described Vodafone's assets as a "big banana in a jar" - the challenge is extracting it. He also warned that the companies could clash due to their starkly different cultures.