The French billionaire Xavier Niel agreed to acquire the involvement of emiratine e& THE Vodafone Group, in a transaction worth about $6 billion, which makes him the largest shareholder of the British telecommunications company.
According to the announcements of the two sides, Vega, the investment vehicle which controlled by the Nieh familyλ, will acquire more than 16% of Vodafone, paying around 112.5 pence per share, which includes both cash and future dividend.
Until the necessary approvals are completed by the competent regulatory authorities, the shares will be held by financial institutions on behalf of Vega. The Niel family estimates it will acquire direct ownership of the package by the end of the year.
The news greatly strengthened Vodafone's share, which recorded a rise of up to 14% on the London Stock Exchange, marking its largest intra-session climb since 1999.
Who is Xavier Niel?
Xavier Niel already has extensive presence in the telecommunications sector through the Iliad Group, which serves more than 50 million subscribers in France, Italy and Poland.
His relationship with the Vodafone is not new, as it had first gained a percentage about 2.5% of the company in 2022. For her part, Vodafone said she knew the Niel family well and expressed her satisfaction at the prospect of working with one «supporting and long-term shareholder».
Xavier Niel is among the most popular in the world. now emblematic personalities of the European telecommunications and technology sectorThe French billionaire is the founder and main shareholder of the group Iliad, to which the Free, the company that changed the balance in French market mobile telephoneed «price war» with the particularly low packages launched in 2012.
Today, through Iliad and its investment vehicle NJJ, it has evolved into one of the Europe's largest telecommunications investors. It has a presence in France, Italy, Poland, Ireland, Switzerland, Monaco, Cyprus, Malta and Ukraine, and has also been extended to Latin America through its participation in Millicom. Overall, its telecommunications activities serve more than 50 million subscribers in Europe.
His business extends far beyond telecommunications. It is. co-owner of the historic French newspaper Le Monde, and has acquired participations in other publishing organizations in France. At the same time, he co-founded the Kima Ventures, one of the most active venture capital funds worldwide, which invests every year in dozens of start-ups.
In recent years he has turned much of his investments into artificial intelligence. She was one of her first investors Mistral AI, while participating in the funding of the research laboratory Kyutai, One of the most important European projects in the field of AI. At the same time, it participates in its management boards KKR and ByteDance, his parent company TikTok.
THE Niel has also established the 42 programming school, which operates without tuition and without traditional teachers, with the aim of educating new developers. Today the school's network numbers dozens of campuses around the world, and also created Station F in Paris, which is considered the largest campus of youth businesses in Europe.
According to the French magazine Challenges, his fortune is currently estimated at EUR 30.1 billion, which ranks him among France's richest entrepreneurs. By acquiring the share of emiratine e& in Vodafone, Xavier Niel is now becoming the largest shareholder of the British telecommunications group, further strengthening his presence in the European telecommunications sector.
Vodafone's strategy
In recent years the Vodafone has focused its strategy mainly on markets of the United Kingdom and Germany, gradually abandoning activities in other countries.
The CEO, Margerita Dela Valla, which took over the reins of the group in 2023 has promoted an extensive restructuring programme aimed at improving efficiency and profitability, in a European telecommunications sector which is still facing pressure due to intense competition and market fragmentation.
E&'s departure completed
The deal marks the end of Vodafone's equity relationship with emiratine e&, which had begun in 2022.
The company, majority controlled by the United Arab Emirates State Investment Fund, had originally acquired a 9.8% stake in Vodafone and subsequently gradually increased its participation, evolving to the largest shareholder of the British company.
In the context of the departure, the former managing director of e&, Hatem Dovindar, submitted his resignation from Vodafone's board of directors, as the British company has announced separately.
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