UAE Telecoms Group Sells 16.21 Percent Stake in Vodafone Group for £4.43bn
The Vodafone Group has this morning confirmed that Abu Dhabi-based E& (Emirates Telecommunications Group Company PJSC) has sold its entire 16.21% stake – some 3,944,743,685 ordinary shares – in the global mobile operator to Vega, an acquisition vehicle wholly owned by the Niel family group (owner of French telecoms firm Iliad), for $5.95bn (£4.43bn).
In a brief statement Vodafone said: “The relationship agreement dated 11th May 2023 between Vodafone and e& has been terminated. Hatem Dowidar, who was appointed to the Board of Vodafone as the nominee director of e&, has resigned from the Board with immediate effect.”
Meanwhile, E& said that the move followed a “comprehensive strategic review of its international investment portfolio” and, after today, they will “no longer seek to exert control or influence Vodafone’s Board or management team“. But the company added that they “appreciate the constructive partnership with Vodafone and looks forward to exploring future opportunities to collaborate in ways that create mutual value“.
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The transaction will generate cash proceeds to e& of approximately $5.95 billion inclusive of final FY26 dividend. This will result in net cash return of around $1.3 billion. Completion of the transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to take place in the near future.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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This is an interesting move, possibly motivated by the impact of the disruption the Iran campaign is having on business sentiment in the Gulf.
It will be interesting to see how this develops as the European market continues to consolidate.