Vodafone To Sell Share Of Dutch Joint Venture To Liberty Global

LONDON, Feb 19 (Bernama-PA Media/dpa) -- Vodafone has agreed to sell its share in the Dutch joint venture with Liberty Global for €1 billion (US$1.18 billion), about a decade after it was created.

The company said it was getting a cash boost from Liberty buying out its 50 per cent stake in VodafoneZiggo, reported PA Media/dpa.

The agreement also involves Vodafone gaining a 10 per cent shareholding in Ziggo Group, a holding company which has not yet been formed.

The new entity will own both VodafoneZiggo and Liberty’s Belgian subsidiary Telenet.

The two firms struck a deal to merge their operations back in 2016, bringing together Vodafone’s mobile operation with Liberty’s Ziggo broadband network.

VodafoneZiggo is the leading telecoms operator in the Netherlands, serving millions of mobile and fixed-line customers.

Liberty, which also jointly owns Virgin Media O2 in the UK, plans to list Ziggo Group on the Euronext stock exchange in Amsterdam next year.

Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone’s chief executive, said: “We’re pleased to have agreed the sale of our 50 per cent share in VodafoneZiggo at an attractive valuation.

“This transaction delivers one billion euros in cash to Vodafone, and we have the potential for further value creation through our 10 per cent stake in Ziggo Group, a business with greater scale.”

Della Valle has been steering a major transformation programme for Vodafone, including selling off its Italian business and merging its UK business with Three UK.

--BERNAMA-PA MEDIA/dpa