E& to sell 16.21% Vodafone stake for $5.95 billion
Abu Dhabi-based e& said it has ended its partnership agreement with Vodafone and will book about AED 21.8 billion in cash proceeds from the stake sale, including Vodafone’s final fiscal 2026 dividend.
E& said it has terminated its relationship agreement with Vodafone and signed a binding deal to sell its entire 16.21% stake in the telecom group to Vega, an acquisition vehicle wholly owned by the Niel family group, for 112.5 pence per share. The transaction covers 3,944,743,685 Vodafone ordinary shares, representing about 16.21% of issued share capital and 17.13% of total voting rights. The price includes about 110.5 pence per share in cash from the buyer and Vodafone’s final fiscal 2026 dividend of 2.02 pence per share, payable on July 30, 2026. E& said its representative on Vodafone’s board has resigned as a non-executive director following the end of the relationship agreement. The shares will be sold simultaneously through off-market block trades to three financial institutions, which will hold them in custody until Vega meets regulatory requirements. Once the shares are transferred to the institutions, e& expects cash proceeds of about AED 21.8 billion ($5.95 billion), including the dividend, and a net cash return of about AED 4.7 billion ($1.3 billion).
- off-market block trades: Large privately arranged share transactions executed outside the public exchange order book.
- non-executive director: A board member who provides oversight and governance but is not involved in a company’s day-to-day management.