Vodafone Shares Surge as French Billionaire Xavier Niel Becomes Biggest Shareholder
By Dominic Chopping
Vodafone shares surged Friday after French billionaire Xavier Niel agreed to buy a 16.2% stake in the U.K. telecoms company, becoming its largest shareholder.
Shares rose 12% in early London trade.
Niel, through his Vega acquisition vehicle, agreed to buy Emirates Telecommunications Group's entire 16.2% stake in the British company for around 4.4 billion pounds ($5.9 billion) in cash.
Vega agreed to pay 110.5 pence a share for the stake, a 13% premium to Vodafone's closing price on Thursday. On top of that, the Emirati telecom group which is known as e&, will also receive Vodafone's final dividend of around 2 pence, bringing the total consideration to 112.5 pence a share.
"Vodafone is ready for a new phase of growth and is well-placed to unlock substantial untapped value across its European and African operations," Niel said in a statement.
e& said it decided to sell its stake so it can sharpen its strategic focus on core businesses while unlocking the value created through the investment. Its shares will be sold to three financial institutions who will hold the stock until Vega completes regulatory requirements.
Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 10, 2026 04:06 ET (08:06 GMT)
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