Spain Sale Approved, EUR2bn Share Buyback To Begin
Vodafone Group Plc ("Vodafone") announces today that the sale of Vodafone Spain to Zegona Communications plc ("Zegona")1 has received final approval from the Spanish authorities. The sale is expected to complete at the end of May 2024, at which point Vodafone will receive €4.1 billion in cash (subject to customary closing adjustments) and €0.9 billion in the form of Redeemable Preference Shares.
As a result, Vodafone now intends to commence an initial €500 million share buyback programme on 15 May 2024, as part of our plans to return €2.0 billion over 12 months
"These warrant an in-depth investigation unless Vodafone and Three can come forward with solutions."
But on 28 March, both parties informed the CMA that they would not be offering any such undertakings.
I believe it is very interesting that Vodafone & Three didn’t even try to provide any solutions to the CMA? Just a flat out “no”? Seems to me with some effort they could have maybe pushed this
Has Vodafone responded to the below? I believe the 5 days is up. Can’t find any information on this.
“The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Friday gave the two companies five working days to respond with "meaningful solutions" to its concerns that the merger will result in higher prices for consumers and businesses and lower investment.”
The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong picks.
Of these, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.
In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.
Vodafone Group (VOD) is a stock many investors are watching right now. VOD is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 10.20 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 10.46. Over the last 12 months, VOD's Forward P/E has been as high as 12.20 and as low as 9.02, with a median of 10.03.
Another notable valuation metric for VOD is its P/B ratio of 0.35. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.03. Over the past year, VOD's P/B has been as high as 0.57 and as low as 0.33, with a median of 0.38.
Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Vodafone Group is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, VOD sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.
“Betaville has a wide range of high-level sources but from time to time some intelligence alerts may contain an "UNCOOKED", “RARE” and "WELL-DONE" disclaimers. For readers unfamiliar with these concepts, I have pasted the definition below:
UNCOOKED: Market gossip as Betavillereceives it. This scuttlebutt has just come in and hasn't been checked with all of Betaville's well-informed RARE sources let alone formal journalistic channels (public relations executives, bankers etc). The rumour might be total codswallop, rubbish or nonsense - but then again there may be something in it, so it's worth airing on Betaville.
RARE: Market gossip that has been tested with some of Betaville's USUALLY WELL-INFORMED sources. In fact, Betaville might have spent several days or weeks working on this story. However, the rumour hasn't been tested through formal journalistic channels (public relations executives, bankers etc). The scuttlebutt might be complete codswallop - but then again there may be something in it, so it's worth airing on Betaville.
WELL-DONE: Market gossip that has been checked with some of Betaville's TOP sources. However, nothing is certain in life, so the rumour might be wide of the mark!
Vodafone gains amid takeover speculation
Vodafone (NASDAQ:VOD) ADRs quickly rose 1.5% amid takeover speculation.
There's some renewed takeover speculation and one person following the matter heard that Goldman Sachs has been hired for a potential acquirer, and another person believes Jefferies may be working on a deal, according to a Betaville "uncooked" alert.
The identity of the potential buyer remains unknown, according to the report. Some are speculating that the possible bidder may be a US-based company, though more recently, it appears the buyer may be European.
The latest speculation comes after Betaville reported last Wednesday that Vodafone (VOD) may be a takeover target and that American telecom firms are looking at the company.
Vodafone jumps amid M&A speculation
Vodafone (NASDAQ:VOD) quickly rose as much as 7.1% in trading in London amid some vague M&A speculation.
There is some vague speculation that Vodafone (VOD) may be a takeover target and that American telecom companies are looking at the company, according to a Betaville alert. There are also rumors that one of Vodafone's holders may be increasing its stake.
In addition, Vodafone (VOD) may have received a new offer for its Italian unit, according to the report, which cited people following the matter.
BRUSSELS, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Vodafone (VOD.L) and CK Hutchison's $19 billion mobile merger in Britain does not pose any competition concerns to EU antitrust regulators, according to a European Commission filing.
The companies sought approval from the EU competition enforcer for their bid to create the UK's biggest mobile operator on Oct. 30.
The Commission, which set a Dec. 6 deadline for its decision, is reviewing the deal under its simplified procedure.
Bloomberg) -- Vodafone Group Plc is close to selling a stake of at least 50% in its Spanish business to Zegona Communications Plc in a deal that values the asset at more than €5 billion ($5.3 billion), according to people familiar with twitch matter.
The firms are finalizing details of a transaction and an announcement could come in the coming days, the people said. London-based Zegona, an acquisition vehicle, has beaten out other bidders including private equity firm RRJ Capital in the process, the people said.
Inside the battle to save Vodafone-Idea
With the share price of debt-ridden mobile phone company Vodafone-Idea (Vi) booming to more than 20 percent in two weeks, market experts expect a US telecom giant is going to invest and take control of the Indian telecom company soon. The names of US telecom and internet giants like Verizon Communications Inc. and Amazon.com are heard in the Indian stock market as potential buyers of Industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla-controlled Vodafone-Idea shares. The latest in this league of US giants eyeing entry into the Indian telecom market is X- promoter Elon Musk-controlled Starlink, say market experts, analyzing the talks between India and US top political leadership during the G20 Summit in New Delhi.
Previously, Reuters reported about the possibility of Verizon Communications Inc. and Amazon’s interest in investing in Vodafone-Idea, the debt-ridden mobile phone company’s controlling firm, promoted Kumar Managalam Birla preferred to keep their silence[1]. The previous month, Vodafone-Idea (Vi) shares were shuttling at the R.7.50 range, now the share price is crossed Rs.11.70 and market experts believe, if the Government of India which has more than 33% of shares in the firm agrees to the investment and takeover of US-based firm (expected to be Verizon), the share prices would cross to more than Rs.25 soon.
Vodafone-Idea having a huge tax due (AGR dues) of more than Rs.50,000 crore preferred to give its 33% shares to the Government of India, a few years back as part of a bailout package. It is widely believed that the Government of India likes to opt for a US company, rather than a telecom firm from the Middle East. Currently, Birla Group and British firm Vodafone have around 50% shares in Vodafone-Idea mobile phone company and 33% shares owning Government want to encash their shares for around Rs.30,000 crore to recover the tax dues.
According to the top officials in the telecom sector, a US telecom giant will first invest more than four billion dollars in Vodafone-Idea by taking some portion of shares from Birla Group and most of the shares of British firm Vodafone and the Government of India will sell their entire more than 33% of shares to the US telecom firm and ultimately the US telecom firm will get more than 51% shares in the debt-ridden Vodafone-Idea. This deal would ultimately lead to investment of more than 10 billion dollars by the US company, which is expected to be Verizon, say market experts.
After the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) findings, four years ago, the Supreme Court of India through various landmark judgments found out the huge tax evasion (AGR dues) dues of many mobile phone companies ranging up to Rs.1.43 lakh crores (around 20 billion dollars). As per the apex court’s order, the telecom firms were given 10-year installments to pay the huge dues and later Government of India came out with a bailout package to help the debt-ridden telecom firms
Telecel ‘to keep Vodafone Ghana staff’ after $900m acquisition
Alan Burkitt-Gray
February 01, 2023 12:53 PM
The Telecel group does not plan to fire staff at Vodafone Ghana, which it acquired last month for a reported US$900 million.
Nicolas Bourg, Telecel co-founder and director, said the company has “no intention of firing anyone”. He was speaking to Citi Business News.
Bourg said: “This is not how we operate at Telecel. We have proven this with different organizations that we have in different sectors … Our plan is to keep all Vodafone employees.”
Telecel, refounded five years ago after exiting the telecoms business in 2003, is closely associated with French telecoms businessman Xavier Niel. Bourg, who was CEO of the Niel Group until 2018, has been group managing partner of Telecel ever since.
Ghana’s National Communications Authority (NCA) gave its approval for Telecel to buy a 70% stake in Vodafone Ghana two weeks ago.
However the company has underperformed since Vodafone bought the company in 2017, with its market share dropping from 24.1% to 17.9%.
According to the latest NCA data, Vodafone Ghana is two points away from losing its second place in the telecoms market to AirtelTigo, which holds 16.7% of the market share. The Ghanaian government bought AirtelTigo in November 2021.
Market leader is MTN, which now controls 63.1% of the telecoms market, up 15.5 percentage points since 2017.
Telecel said it would develop its presence in Ghana, in particular through the extension of 4G coverage to allow more people to enjoy high speed internet.
The Telecel group as a whole says it plans to spend $700 million in Africa over the next five years in the fields of communications and e-commerce.
Alan Burkitt-Gray
Editor-at-large