Vodafone Open Minded About Verizon Stake - But No Plans for Early Sale

Vodafone's CEO, Vittorio Colao has indicated that the company is open minded about its 45% stake in the USA based Verizon Wireless, but that the company feels that retaining the stake would be the best thing at the moment.

Speaking at a Morgan Stanley-organised conference in Barcelona, he added that the company is interested in the Nigerian market - resurrecting old rumours about a Vodafone investment in the country. Earlier this year, Vodafone execs held meetings with Nigerian politicians - leading to reports that the company was interested in Nigeria Telecommunications (NITEL), which the government was trying to privatise at the time.

Back in June, Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg confirmed that he still wanted total ownership of the wireless division, although he warned that he didn't expect Vodafone to sell in the near term.

Vodafone has repeatedly come under pressure to sell its holding in Verizon Wireless and return the cash to shareholders - although the company insists that it is in for the long haul. A shareholder rebellion by a tiny group, headed by Efficient Capital Structures fizzled out without much effort last year.

Countering this has been the occasional rumour that Vodafone might bid to buy the entire of Verizon Communications - which considering the current market valuation would be a bargain for the company. However, it would almost certainly be a hostile takeover and would ruin the sometimes-fractious relationship between the two companies if it failed.

Morgan Stanley analysts have estimated the equity value of Vodafone's 45% stake in Verizon Wireless - excluding Alltel - to be in the range of US$40-$50 billion

Posted to the site on 21st November 2008