O2 (Ireland) BT Group and 1 mm02 share for each British Telecommunications share they held. After the de-merger, most of mmO2's operations, including Digifone, were rebranded O2. mmO2 plc later became O2 plc and remained an independent company until 2005. On 31 October 2005 it was announced that Telefónica, S.A., the Spanish telecommunications company, had made a recommended takeover bid for O Ireland's parent company, O2 plc. This was then approved by shareholders and O was officially purchased in mid February 2006. The O2 brand is now used in several countries for Telefónica's mobile operations outside Spain and Latin America, where Telefónica
Zündwaren monopoly Zündwaren monopoly The German Zündwaren monopoly (translated Monopoly for Safety Matches) began in 1930 when Germany's Reichstag passed a bill named "Zündwarenmonopolgesetz" ("Safety Matches Monopoly Law"), which allowed the "Deutsche Zündwaren-Monopolgesellschaft" (translated "German Society for the Safety Matches Monopoly") exclusive rights to distribute safety matches within the borders of the German Empire. The only brands the "Deutsche Zündwaren-Monopolgesellschaft" could distribute were "Welthölzer" ("World Matches") and "Haushaltsware" ("Household article"). Local German manufacturers obtained licenses to produce preassigned volumes to sell domestically and were not allowed to export these matches or to establish new firms. The official monopoly had been acquired by