French telecom giant Xavier Nier plans to acquire a 16.2% stake in Vodafone for US$5.9 billion, becoming its largest shareholder
Vodafone Group recently announced that French billionaire and telecommunications tycoon Xavier Niel has reached a final agreement to acquire all Vodafone shares held by Emirates Telecommunications Group (e&) through his investment vehicle Vega. After the transaction is completed, Neil will hold 16.2% of Vodafone's shares and officially become the group's largest shareholder. Stimulated by this news, Vodafone's share price on the London Stock Exchange soared, recording the largest increase in recent times of 14% during the session. According to the transaction details announced by both parties, the acquisition will be conducted entirely in cash, with a total transaction consideration of approximately 4.4 billion pounds (approximately 5.9 billion U.S. dollars). Vega will pay 110.5p per share, a 13% premium to Vodafone's previous closing price. In addition, Etisalat Group will also retain the right to receive a final dividend of approximately 2 pence per share from Vodafone, bringing the final actual transaction consideration to 112.5 pence per share. Neil pointed out in a subsequent official statement that Vodafone has high-quality assets, strong brand effect and diversified global business territory, making it a very attractive strategic investment. He emphasized that Vodafone is ready for a new round of growth and is fully capable of further unleashing the huge potential contained in its European and African businesses. As a senior investor in the global telecommunications field, Neil has previously established a large telecommunications asset portfolio in France, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, Cyprus, Ukraine and Latin America. The annual revenue of the telecommunications business controlled by his family is as high as 24 billion euros. At the same time, Etisalat Group said that the sale of its shares is aimed at refocusing its strategic focus on its core local business and realizing the capital realized from its previous investment. As part of the deal, Etisalat's representative on Vodafone's board, Hatem Dowidar, has resigned with immediate effect. It is reported that in order to ensure a smooth transition of the transaction, the above-mentioned shares will first be transferred to three designated financial institutions for holding until Vega obtains formal approval from the relevant national industry regulatory authorities. In response to market speculation about a follow-up general tender offer, Vodafone Group and Vega jointly reiterated on Friday that Vega currently has no intention to acquire all shares of Vodafone. Industry analysts believe that since another French telecommunications giant, Patrick Drahi, previously reduced his holdings Since the acquisition of BT Group's equity, this cross-border capital merger marks the further deepening of the equity structure and strategic restructuring of the European and British telecommunications infrastructure industries.