Verzion and Vodafone has announced the third largest Merger & Acquisitions deal in history, with Verizon buying out Vodafone’s share in the company’s Verizon Wireless business.
The deal was announced shortly after the London Stock Exchange closed on Monday, a time that was widely speculated previous to the official announcement.
The deal may be huge, but the UK taxpayer will see none of the money — thanks to the US company being owned by a Dutch holding company, there will be $5Bn generated for the US economy though.
Vodafone has already decided what it plans to do with the money with £54bn going to its shareholders, whilst £6Bn will go into the company’s investment plan — dubbed Project Spring.
Project Spring is the company’s aim to accelerate the introduction of its 4G network as well as help it lay fibre optic cable. Vodafone also has plans to expand its retail footprint and develop a mobile payment solution.
With its exit from the US network, it’s clear that Vodafone is looking more at improving its position at home — with it still firmly in third place behind EE and O2.
The announcement of the deal had been long speculated, with the companies reportedly in talks for years about Vodafone selling its 45% of the business it helped start in 2000.
