Vodafone Group (NASDAQ: VOD) has received approval from telecom regulators in Spain to sell the telecom company’s Spanish unit to European telecom investor, Zegona Communications. The sale is expected to complete at the end of May, at which point Vodafone will receive nearly $4.5 billion in cash (subject to customary closing adjustments) and roughly $1 billion in the form of Redeemable Preference Shares.
The move to exit the Spanish market was made when Vodafone struck the deal with Zegona in October 2023, Inside Towers reported. At the time, Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone Chief Executive said, “The sale of Vodafone Spain is a key step in right-sizing our portfolio for growth and will enable us to focus our resources in markets with sustainable structures and sufficient local scale.”
The selling entity is Vodafone Europe which is a 100 percent owned subsidiary of Vodafone Group. The buying entity is Zegona Bidco, a 100 percent owned subsidiary of Zegona Communications. With regulatory clearance, the company said it would immediately commence with its planned share buyback program that would return $2.2 billion to shareholders over the next 12 months.
In a similar move in March, Vodafone entered into an agreement with Swisscom to sell its business in Italy, subject to pending regulatory approval, Inside Towers reported.
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