British telecom giant Vodafone said Monday that it is in advanced discussions to sell its stake in Verizon Wireless back to America's largest wireless provider.
The deal, valued at $130 billion, would give Verizon 100% control of Verizon Wireless if completed. Vodafone (VOD) currently owns 45% of the venture.
Vodafone cautioned that there is no guarantee that an
agreement will be reached, but said that the deal would consist of a
mixture of Verizon common stock and cash.
"A further announcement will be made as soon as practicable," the company said in a statement. Verizon declined to comment.
If completed, it will be one of the largest deals in corporate history.
Vodafone paid a record $180 billion for Germany's Mannesmann in 2000.
Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500)
has expressed desire in controlling all of Verizon Wireless for years,
but rumors that such a deal was about to get done have increased over
the past few months.
Verizon Wireless is the most profitable U.S. wireless carrier, and
Verizon wants total access to that firehose -- not just 55% of it.
The wireless business is the only reason the company is growing:
Landlines are dying, and Verizon has stopped building out its FiOS
Internet and television infrastructure.
The British company could use the proceeds to pay down debt. It may also return a substantial portion to shareholders.
Vodafone's possible exit from the U.S. comes as the telecoms group
deepens its presence in Europe. In June, Vodafone outbid Liberty Global
and paid $10.1 billion to buy German cable operator Kabel Deutschland.
That purchase should allow it to continue growing in the German market by cross-selling TV and broadband services to its existing customers.
The deal comes at a time of consolidation for the wireless industry. MetroPCS and T-Mobile (TMUS) recently completed their complex merger, and Softbank bought Sprint (S, Fortune 500) in July.
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