Vodafone gives clearest sign yet of Verizon sale

British mobile group Vodafone on Sept 9 announced a management shake-up to place its 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless and its other minority interests in foreign operators into a special value creation unit.

The new division, which will be responsible for "effecting shareholder value", will fall under the direct control of Vittorio Colao, Vodafone's chief executive. Colao has repeatedly stated that Vodafone is no longer interested in managing minorities and is focused on maximizing value for shareholders. The special division also includes Vodafone's stakes in French mobile operator SFR, Poland's Polkomtel and India's Bharti. Collectively the stakes are estimated by analyst to be worth about £41bn. The move comes just days after Vodafone collected £4.3bn from the sale of its 3.2 percent stake in China Mobile, the world's biggest mobile operator. Vodafone said it is planning to return 70pc of the proceeds to shareholders via a share buy-back, with the remainder used to reduce the group's £33.3bn net debt. Despite the heighten emphasis on value creation, Vodafone sources said yesterday's move does not signal any acceleration of the sell-off.