Last checked at 
* Verizon to buy Vodafone's 45 pct of Verizon Wireless
* Ends decade-long stand-off between Verizon and Vodafone
* Will be third-largest deal of all time
* Vodafone to return $84 billion to shareholders
By Kate Holton and Ilaina Jonas
LONDON/NEW YORK, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Verizon Communications agreed on Monday to pay $130 billion to buy Vodafone out of its U.S. wireless business, signing history'sthird largest corporate deal to bring an end to a decade-longcorporate stand-off.
The two firms said Vodafone would get $58.9 billion in cash,$60.2 billion in Verizon stock, and an additional $11 billionfrom smaller transactions that would take the total deal valueto $130 billion.
The British group will return 71 percent of the net proceedsto shareholders. All the stock will go to shareholders, plus$23.9 billion in cash, after the deal is finalised, likely to bein the first quarter of 2014.
"This has been a highly productive partnership in a businesswith excellent momentum," Vodafone Chief Executive VittorioColao told reporters.
The boards of Verizon and Vodafone unanimously approved thesale.
The deal will give Verizon full access to the wirelessunit's cash, handing it fresh firepower to invest in superfastmobile networks and fend off challengers in a U.S. marketexpected to grow more competitive in the coming years.
Verizon said it expected the transaction to be immediatelyaccretive to earnings per share by about 10 percent, excludingany one-time adjustments.
While Vodafone will lose its best asset, it will get a warchest that it can use to reward shareholders and bolster itsEuropean operations, which are under pressure from recession andtough regulation.
The British firm said it planned to plough 6 billion pounds($9.3 billion) into improving its mobile and broadband networksover the next three financial years. It said the investmentprogramme dubbed Project Spring would help it boost growth tounderpin its increasing dividend payments to shareholders.
It will have a U.S. tax liability of around $5 billion.
The deal is likely to be the defining event in the careersof Colao and Lowell McAdam, the congenial chief executives ofVodafone and Verizon, who rebuilt relations between the twosides to such an extent that they could complete the deal thatlong eluded their predecessors.
The move to sell out of the joint venture closes a headyexpansionist chapter for Vodafone, one of Britain's best-knowncompanies, which grew rapidly over the last 20 years through aspate of aggressive deals, taking its brand into more than 30countries across Europe, Africa and India.
