Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

UAE’s telco e& raises stake in UK’s Vodafone to 14%

By Pramod Kumar
Vodafone is among the leading tech companies opening offices in Egypt Vodafone
e& said that the rationale remains unchanged from May 2022 when it purchased a 9.8% stake in Vodafone Group

UAE-based telecom firm e&, formerly Emirates Telecommunications Group Company, has increased its stake in UK’s Vodafone Group to 14 percent.

The Abu Dhabi bourse-listed company purchased a 9.8 percent stake in May 2022 and last month it upped its stake in Vodafone to 13 percent.

The telco maintains that the move is aimed at obtaining significant exposure to a global leader, leverage potential commercial partnerships and realise a future return on its investment.

The firm has previously said it has no intentions of making an offer to buy Vodafone, adding it fully supports the company’s current business strategy and its board and existing management team.

Meanwhile, Reuters said that Vodafone’s shares have fallen 15 percent since e& first invested, as the London-listed group has struggled to improve weak performance in three out of its four biggest European markets, resulting in the departure of its chief executive in December.

Liberty Global this month bought a near five percent stake in Vodafone, describing it as an opportunistic investment and stating it would not seek a board seat or mount a takeover bid.

Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries said Vodafone’s share price did not reflect the underlying value of the business and its opportunities for consolidation, the news agency said.

French telecoms tycoon Xavier Niel bought a 2.5 percent stake in Vodafone in September. He said he was ready to advise Vodafone’s board on its strategy when Read was replaced on an interim basis by finance director Margherita Della Valle in December.

Latest articles

STC wants to consolidate the mobile tower market

STC approves PIF purchase of telecom company

Shareholders of Saudi telecom giant STC have approved plans to create a new telecommunications infrastructure company in which the Public Investment Fund will have a 51 percent stake valued at SAR8.7 billion ($2.3 billion).  Under the deal, the STC-owned Telecommunication Towers Co. Limited (Tawal) will become a PIF subsidiary through a merger with Golden Lattice […]

Flavio Cattaneo of Enel, of which Endesa is a subsidiary, and Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi at the signing of the deal

Masdar buys stake in Spanish utilities company Endesa

The UAE’s state-owned clean energy company Masdar has agreed to acquire a minority stake in Spanish electric utility business Endesa to partner for 2.5 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy assets in Spain. Under the agreement, subject to regulatory approval, Masdar will invest nearly $890 million to acquire a 49.99 percent stake in Endesa, with an […]

Person, Worker, Adult

Aramco and PIF invest in Saudi-Chinese steel venture

Saudi Aramco and the Public Investment Fund have doubled their investment in a steel plate joint venture with a Chinese company to $500 million. The two Saudi companies each own 25 percent shares in the new venture in Ras Al Khair industrial city, Bloomberg reported, quoting a statement published on the Chinese stock exchange. Chinese […]

Car, Transportation, Vehicle

Dubai Taxi to pay $43m dividend despite profit drop

Dubai Taxi Company, a subsidiary of the emirate’s transport regulator, has approved a dividend payout of AED159 million ($43 million) for the first half of 2024 despite a marginal 1 percent increase in net profit. Net earnings reached AED187.4 million in the first six months of the year, compared to AED186.3 million at the same […]