Vodafone shareholders: Keep Verizon stake
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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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Vodafone veteran John Townsend has been named CFO of Verizon Wireless. Townsend replaces outgoing CFO Andy Halford, who is moving to the post of chief financial director at Vodafone.
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Swisscom AG  will repurchase a 25 percent stake in Swisscom Mobile from Britain's Vodafone Group Plc for 4.25 billion Swiss francs ($3.5 billion) in a long-awaited deal to fortify its home market position.
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Vodafone announced on Tuesday an aggressive doubling of its dividend and a further increase to its share buyback programme in a firm sign that the mobile operator has listened to shareholder demands to increase its cash payouts.
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British mobile phone giant Vodafone agreed to buy an 11-billion-dollar controlling stake in India's Hutchison Essar in an attempt to move into the world's fastest-growing mobile phone market.
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MOBILE phone giant Vodafone today rewarded its shareholders with a 100 per cent dividend increase on the back of half-year profits equivalent to more than Â£340 per second.
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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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BARCELONA/MUMBAI  - 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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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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BARCELONA/HONG KONG  - Vodafone  shares climbed on Monday after the British mobile phone giant beat rival suitors with an $11.1 billion bid for a controlling stake in Hutchison Essar, India's fourth-biggest cellphone firm.
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British-based mobile phone giant Vodafone Group said Tuesday that it was not in talks with US partner Verizon Communications about a possible bid for US rival Sprint.
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Vodafone has denied a report that it is buying Verizon for $160 billion--but says it is contemplating a deal.
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Vodafone Group PLC on Monday denied a newspaper report it is considering making a $160 billion bid for its U.S. partner in the wireless phone business, Verizon Communications Inc.
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Vodafone buys a controlling stake in Indian mobile phone firm Hutchison Essar for $11bn (Â£5.6bn).
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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 is to hand out Â£6bn to shareholders this year thanks to a doubling of its dividend and an increase in its share buy-back programme.
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Investor's Business Daily - It turns out the rumors were false. Vodafone  , the planet&#39;s largest wireless-network firm, denied that it wanted to buy Verizon Communications   for $160 billion.