Assuming the TPG merger goes ahead, i dont see any possiblity of us getting acquired by a Telco, and to be honest if it doesnt go ahead, i dont know i would want us to merge with Vodafone, they would weigh us down too much due to their size. (it wouldnt be a merger of equals)
Possibilities of mergers with smaller companies within the telco sector could be interesting, an MVNO like Amaysim could be beneficial, but a big deal due to integration issues we have had in the past.
I wonder why we dont have a look at some microcaps like Inabox ($13m market cap) to boost SMB, or TPC (not TPG) MVNO and energy retailer ($12m market cap)
If we were to be acquired by a mystery bidder (who isnt a scavenger corp), i would start guessing at a NZ utilitiy like Trustpower or Contact Energy