BUZZ-Vodafone: M&A talk, bullish brokers lift stock to 14-yr high

** Vodafone at levels last seen early 2001 & poised for c.8 pct advance this wk, its biggest weekly rise in c.6 mths

** Potential tie-up between VOD & Liberty Global underpinning gains; traders this wk cited comments from Liberty chairman as being supportive of merger

** Brokers bullish on VOD following FY earlier this wk in which it finally forecast 2016 core earnings growth on an organic basis following seven straight years of declines

** Goldman repeats "buy"; says given LBTY's recent publicly stated preference for a tax efficient capital structure, in contrast to VOD shareholders preference for dividends, VOD may be more likely a seller than a buyer of assets

** Deutsche Bank (Xetra: 514000 - news) ups TP by 10p to 260p, repeats "buy"; Citi lifts TP to 265p vs 250p, repeats "buy"

** Stock, up 4.3 pct, easily top FTSE 100 riser & most actively traded on index, with two thirds of its 90-day daily avg volume having gone through in c.1 hr (RM (LSE: RM.L - news) : tricia.wright1.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net RM:alasdair.pal.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)