Verizon wins Vodafone backing for Sprint bid - report
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Verizon Communications has reportedly gained the backing of its wireless partner, Vodafone Group, for a potential bid for Sprint Corp, clearing a major hurdle to such a deal.
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Talking telephone numbers Vodafone has denied rumours that it is considering a leveraged buyout of US giant Verizon.â¦
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(InfoWorld) - Vodafone Group intends to keep its stake in Verizon Wireless, despite a proposal submitted by a large shareholder recommending a change in the holding. The issue of Vodafone's 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless comes up during virtually every earnings report from Vodafone. Vodafone typically argues that while it keeps an eye on the investment and probably won't hold on to it forever, growth at Verizon continues, so the investment is sound for now. On Thursday, Vodafone said that Efficient Capital Structures, a group that controls 210,000 shares of the company, submitted several resolutions, including one suggesting that Vodafone either spin off or issue tracking shares of its Verizon Wireless interest. Vodafone is required to submit the resolutions for vote during its annual shareholders meeting July 24. Vodafone said that its share in Verizon has generated significant value and that a change in the structure of that investment would lose some of that value. A tracking share would probably trade low because of limited transparency, Vodafone said. A spinoff would also likely lead to lowered value because of difficulties in tax structures and because the board doesn't think the United Kingdom is the natural place to list such shares. Another resolution from ECS seeks to put a cap of Â£1 billion ($2 billion) on any acquisition or a maximum of Â£5 billion in aggregate acquisitions in any two-year period before 2010 unless the deal gets shareholder approval. Vodafone argues that such a rule would prevent it from competing for assets and would have precluded the company from making some historical buys, such as acquisitions in Romania, Turkey, and India. The proposals from ECS add to pressure mounting on Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin. Last year, around 10 percent of shareholders voted against his re-election to the board. The vote came a few months after Vodafone revealed a Â£14 billion loss for the year ending in March 2006, marking a record loss for a U.K. company.
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(InfoWorld) - Shareholders of Vodafone Group soundly rejected a proposal to spin off the company's stake in Verizon Wireless on Tuesday, signaling they want the British mobile operator's management to stay the course. Vodafone, which has cellular businesses in 23 countries around the world, owns 45 percent of Verizon Wireless. Incumbent wireline carrier Verizon Communications holds the other 55 percent. Efficient Capital Structures (ECS), an investor group, presented a resolution for Vodafone's Tuesday annual meeting that called on the carrier to either create a new holding company consisting of its stake in Verizon Wireless or create a separate tracking stock so investors could choose to buy into that part of Vodafone. ECS argued investors can't take advantage of Verizon's success today. "The investment is 'buried' within Vodafone's Emerging Markets division, preventing the market from valuing it directly," ECS Chairman Glenn Cooper said in a statement to shareholders. He also argued that because Verizon uses CDMA while the rest of Vodafone's networks are based on GSM, it should be broken out. However, less than 5 percent of Vodafone shares were voted in favor of the resolution, one of a series of proposals by the group that the company's board opposed. All of them were voted down. Verizon Wireless is one of the two dominant mobile operators in the U.S. Rival AT&T has 62 million subscribers to Verizon's 60 million, but Verizon had slightly more revenue last year at about US$38 billion. Vodafone's stake in the operator gives it a toehold in the U.S. mobile market but doesn't allow it to run its own business or build up its brand. Vodafone tried to acquire AT&T Wireless in 2004 before that company was acquired by Cingular. Joint ownership also leaves Verizon Communications without full ownership of its cellular business, which rival AT&T now has. That may make it easier for AT&T to bundle wired and wireless services for subscribers. Last week,Â Vodafone denied reports that it was considering buying all of Verizon CommunicationsÂ and then spinning off the wireless business. Vodafone had 198.6 million customers across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region at the end of last year. Â
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Shares of Sprint Corp. FON.N rose  5.4 percent before the bell on Tuesday after the Wall Street  Journal reported that Verizon Communications VZ.N has gained  the backing of partner Vodafone Group VOD.L to bid for  Sprint.
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Well, it looks like things are getting a bit more interesting regarding the Sprint/Nextel deal. It seems that Vodafone, which owns 45% of Verizon Wireless in the US, is supporting a move by Verizon to potentially buy Sprint PCS.
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Investor's Business Daily - Europe's largest wireless carrier, Vodafone Group, this month said it's expanded its 3G high-speed wireless service to more markets -- and cell phone makers cheered.
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VODAFONE shares fell nearly 3 per cent yesterday on fears that the mobile phone group could come under pressure from its US partner to provide $25 billion (Â£13 billion) to help to finance a bid for Sprint.
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(InfoWorld) - Vodafone Group had almost 200 million customers by Dec. 31, but continues to face challenges in the competitive and saturated European market. The operator's European business stagnated, with fourth-quarter revenue growing just 0.9 percent year on year, excluding the effect of acquisitions. Worldwide, its growth excluding acquisitions totalled 6.1 percent. The company accounts for revenue from partly-owned subsidiaries in proportion to its holding. Vodafone said that despite low growth in Europe, some of its new calling plans, such as one that offers users a lower price for calls made within their home area and others that include fixed-line broadband Internet access, are attracting new customers. Price competition, however, is offsetting that growth. Revenue from Vodafone's operations outside Europe, excluding acquisitions, grew 14.4 percent compared to a year earlier. Egypt, Romania, South Africa, and Turkey showed particularly strong growth during the period, Vodafone said. The operator offered no further insight into itsÂ negotiations to buyÂ a controlling interest in Indian operator Hutchison Essar. The board is continuing to investigate the possibility and will only agree to a deal that meets Vodafone's financial criteria, Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin said during a conference call to discuss the results. U.S. operator Verizon Wireless, in which Vodafone owns a stake, also did well during the quarter, with Vodafone's share of the business acquiring one million new customers. Vodafone is still pleased with its stake in Verizon Wireless, although the company uses a different wireless technology to that used by Vodafone's holdings elsewhere in the world. "There is no concept of our selling our interest there," Sarin said. While rumors have surfaced regularly over the past few years that Verizon Wireless might be considering a major technology change, that's still doubtful, Sarin said. Even Apple'sÂ much anticipated iPhone, which operates on GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), the technology that competes with Verizon's CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) network, is unlikely to encourage Verizon to make a change, Sarin said. The migration to fourth-generation networks, which operators will begin to make in the next few years, will probably cement Verizon's choice. "That's the time Verizon Wireless will think about what next generation of technology that they can deploy and of course they'll try to deploy a technology that is as backward compatible as they can," he said. Data services are also paying off for Vodafone. Non-voice average revenue per user was up 62 percent for the quarter compared to the year earlier. Vodafone has attracted 50 percent of its total customers to sign up for Passport, a plan that offers reduced rates on roaming. The European Commission is proposing a regulation that would require operators to reduce their roaming rates. Vodafone doesn't expect the commission to make a final decision until this summer, said Sarin.
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LONDON Vodafone Group, the world&#39;s largest mobile phone operator, said on Tuesday that it had doubled its six-month dividend and extended a stock buyback by Â£1 billion to increase shareholder returns after sales fell for the first time.
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Blog: A group of Vodafone investors have gotten support from a major U.S. proxy advisory firm to pressure the company to spin-off its stake in Verizon Wireless.
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Vodafone Group, the world&#39;s largest mobile-phone operator, said Tuesday it&#39;s not in talks with partner Verizon Communications to bid for Sprint Corp.
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Vodafone, the UK-based telecom company that co-owns Verizon Wireless, denies that it is involved in a bid to take over US telco Sprint.
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British mobile phone giant Vodafone said it has agreed to buy an 11-billion-dollar controlling interest in India's Hutchison Essar, a spokesman for the company said.
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Britain's Vodafone Group Plc   has won the battle for a controlling stake in Hutchison  Essar with a bid that values India's fourth-biggest mobile firm  at around $19 billion, including debt.
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Vodafone Group Plc plans to hand 6.0 billion pounds (&#36;11.12 billion) back to shareholders this year after doubling half-year and full-year dividends and boosting a multi-billion pound share buy-back program.
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Shares of Sprint Nextel Corp  rose over 3.5 percent on Friday as investors reacted to market speculation the No. 3 U.S. mobile service could be sold to Britain's BT Group , but analysts were skeptical.