Exposure to emerging markets, often the cause of higher borrowing costs and unpredictable results, has been the salvation of many European companies in the past few years.
With financing tight and consumers cautious, banks and service-focused groups have made a virtue of international diversification. The unseemly battle between Telefónica of Spain and Portugal Telecom for control of their jointly controlled Brazilian business, Vivo, attests to the quest for alternative markets.
