The announcement came four days before the close of Vodafone's hostile takeover bid for Mannesmann.
The European Commission announced on Tuesday it had no objection to Mannesmann's purchase of Orange.
This was one of the main stumbling blocks in Vodafone's long fight for Mannesmann.
Most analysts agree that Mannesmann was undervalued, but not by as much as Mr Esser claims.
Mannesmann is now as well placed to develop pan-European telephone services as any ex-monopoly.
And Mr Gent certainly does not deserve such generosity on the basis of the Mannesmann deal alone.
Mannesmann said it "extremely regrets" that Vodafone insists on pursuing the company with a hostile takeover bid.
Assuming Vodafone acquires Mannesmann, Vivendi Communication will buy a further 7.5% stake in Cegetel, giving it control.
Canning Fok, managing director of telecoms giant Hutchison Whampoa, Mannesmann's biggest shareholder, has testified that he first proposed the bonuses.
Vodafone would have to dispose of Orange, another British mobile-phone operator that is being acquired by Mannesmann.
"At no time has Vodafone made a friendly approach with an offer acceptable to Mannesmann shareholders, " it said.
Britain's Vodafone AirTouch , the world's biggest mobile-phone operator, is mulling a hostile bid for Germany's Mannesmann .
If this deal leads to Vodafone acquiring both Vivendi and Mannesmann, Mr Gent will probably judge it good value.
That level of activity is likely to persist, even without another bid on the scale of Vodafone's for Mannesmann.
"We have agreed between us that Vodafone AirTouch will be making a revised proposal to Mannesmann shareholders, " Mr Gent said.
They selected a consortium led by Germany's Krauss Maffei, whose parent company, Mannesmann, is better known for pipelines and telecoms.
Last year Hutchison Telecom exchanged its highly successful Orange mobile phone operation in Britain for 10% of Germany's Mannesmann services conglomerate.
Executives from Vodafone and Mannesmann have spent much of the month competing for the loyalties of shareholders in the German conglomerate.
"If there is an improvement in the offer, then this would be a totally different situation, " said Georg Denoke, Mannesmann's spokesman.
The other set-piece was the publication of Mannesmann's defence document, due on January 14th after The Economist had gone to press.
Hong Kong-based Hutchison got a one-time boost from the sale of its stakes in British cellphone network Orange and Germany's Mannesmann group.
But analysts worry that Mannesmann's D2 mobile network in Germany is finding it more expensive to sign up new subscribers than expected.
Yet Vodafone's bid still faces scrutiny by the European Union's competition authorities and has to win over Mannesmann's potentially sceptical German shareholders.
If the approach were to succeed, it would be the world's second-biggest takeover deal after mobile phone giant Vodafone's purchase of Mannesmann in 2000.
Although Mannesmann chairman Klaus Esser has not ruled out an amicable settlement, he insists that Vodafone's offer is far less than Mannesmann's potential value.
The Mannesmann affair became a glaring example, to the public, of the executive greed thought to be invading European boardrooms from across the Atlantic.
Although Mr Gent was in Dusseldorf, the headquarters of Mannesmann, there were no official plans for him to meet with Klaus Esser, Mannesmann's boss.
Meanwhile, some Mannesmann shareholders say they are launching a court action in the United States to try and force the company to talk to Vodafone.
Vodafone's advisers worry that the episode has damaged its fragile support among German fund managers and retail investors, who together hold a third of Mannesmann.
Olivetti's brightest telecoms managers will move to Mannesmann with its subsidiaries.
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