Vodafone Expects To Complete Sale Of Stake In Verizon Wireless JV By February

(RTTNews) - British telecom giant Vodafone Group plc (VOD, VOD.L) said Tuesday that it expects to complete the sale of its 45 percent stake in the Verizon Wirless joint venture to U.S. telecommunications giant Verizon Communications, Inc. (VZ) by February 21, 2014. The company said that its shareholders will receive cash proceeds from the deal on March 4, 2014.

In early September, Verizon agreed to buy Vodafone's 45 percent stake in their Verizon Wireless joint venture, in a $130 billion cash-and-stock deal that will give it full control of the largest and most profitable U.S. mobile phone carrier.

The deal has been approved by the board of directors of both companies, but remains subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval of both companies' shareholders. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014.

Vodafone said in a statement that its shareholder circular relating to the proposed sale of its U.S. group, whose principal asset is its 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless, the related acquisition of the outstanding minority stake in Vodafone Italy, the proposed return of value to shareholders, the related consolidation of the company's ordinary shares and other matters, has been approved by the UK Listing Authority and is available for viewing on the company's website.

Vodafone company noted that the circular contains notices convening a court meeting to be held at 11.00 a.m. on January 28, 2014 and a general meeting to be held at 11.15 a.m. on the same day, to consider and approve the transactions, the return of value, the share consolidation and related matters. Both meetings will be held at the Hilton London Metropole Hotel in London.

Under the terms of the $130 billion deal, Verizon will pay Vodafone $58.9 billion in cash, financed with credit from J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc., Bank of America, N.A. and Barclays. The company also will issue $60.2 billion in stock to Vodafone shareholders.

In addition, Verizon will issue $5 billion in notes payable to Vodafone, and will sell its 23.1 percent minority stake in Vodafone Omnitel N.V. to Vodafone for $3.5 billion. The remaining $2.5 billion of the deal value will be a combination of other consideration.

The $130 billion deal, which ends a 14-year partnership and marks Vodafone's exit from the U.S. mobile market, would be the second biggest all-time corporate deal behind Vodafone's $172 billion acquisition of Mannesmann AG in 2000.

Verizon had been contemplating the buyout of the stake several times in the past decade, but pricing was the biggest stumbling block along with the risk of raking up a huge tax bill nearing $10 billion.

Last Wednesday, Verizon said it received the approvals needed from the Federal Communications Commission or FCC to acquire Vodafone's U.S. group with the principal asset of 45 percent of Verizon Wireless.

VOD closed Tuesday's trading at $37.99, down $0.16 or 0.42 percent on a volume of 10.97 million shares.