Short Take: Vodafone CEO confident of Mannesmann support

Vodafone chief executive Chris Gent is confident that the company will get more than the 50 percent backing it needs from Mannesmann shareholders in order to buy the company, fund managers told Reuters. Mannesmann has been fighting off a $155.54 billion hostile takeover bid from Vodafone, which last month made a formal offer to Mannesmann shareholders after the company's management rejected the offer. Fund managers who met with Gent today in Edinburgh after he spoke with institutions in Dublin said Gent was "confident but not complacent" that Mannesmann shareholders will support Vodafone, Reuters reported.