French billionaire, founder of telecommunications company Iliad, Xavier Niel, has become the largest shareholder of British telecom giant Vodafone, acquiring a 16% stake in the company for £4.4 billion ($5.91 billion). This is reported by UNN citing The Guardian.
Details
According to the publication, the Emirati telecommunications group e&, which had held a stake in Vodafone since 2022, sold its entire share at a price of 112.5 pence per share.
The new owner of the stake, through the family investment fund Vega, is Xavier Niel. The deal was concluded at a premium of about 15% to Vodafone's closing share price the day before.
Vodafone, after a large-scale restructuring, has become a simpler and more focused company and is ready for a new phase of growth. We see significant untapped potential in its European and African operations and count on long-term growth and stable cash flow
He emphasized that the Vega fund was created solely to hold this stake, and the investor himself plans to remain a long-term minority shareholder.
In recent years, Vodafone has been actively restructuring its business. The company sold assets in Italy and Spain, exited a joint venture in the Netherlands, and also completed a merger with operator Three, creating the largest mobile operator in the UK. Additionally, in May, Vodafone announced its intention to buy out partner CK Hutchison's 49% stake in the joint venture VodafoneThree and gain full control over it.
Citi analyst Carl Murdoch-Smith noted that Niel is known as an active investor who often initiates large-scale changes in companies. In particular, after acquiring nearly 20% of shares in Swedish operator Tele2 in 2024, the company announced a reduction of about 15% of its staff.
However, a representative of the businessman emphasized that the current deal concerns exclusively the purchase of shares and does not provide for any special arrangements regarding corporate governance. At the same time, he noted that after obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals, the investor expects an appropriate level of interaction with Vodafone's management.
Following the announcement of the change in the largest shareholder, Vodafone shares rose by approximately 12%.