Vodafone has confirmed the $130bn sale of its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless to Verizon Communications, making the deal one of the biggest business moves in history.
The £84bn deal was announced by Vodafone after the close of trading on the London Stock Exchange, its shares having risen 3.4% during the day.
It is the conclusion to a long-running rivalry between Vodafone and the US telecoms group during which each tried to buy the other’s share of the wireless business to assume control.
Speculation has been mounting as to what Vodafone will do with the income – though it is thought £60bn will be released to its shareholders, with £24bn of that coming to the UK is what is seen as a boost to the UK economy.
Vodafone also hopes to invest in developing as a business, aiming to fund its convergence strategy with buyouts of smaller firms.
BBC News quoted Vodafone group chairman Gerard Kleisterlee as saying: "The transaction will position Vodafone strongly to pursue our leadership strategy in mobile and unified communication services for consumers and enterprises, both in our developed markets and across our emerging markets businesses."