As Expected, Vodafone Sells Its Stake in Verizon Wireless for $130 Billion, Giving Verizon Communications Full Ownership

Verizon Communications and Britain’s Vodafone announced a deal that will give Verizon total ownership of the wireless company that bears its name. Vodafone will sell its 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless for $130 billion, in what is said to be the third-largest corporate deal of all time.

The deal marks the end of a long, largely successful joint venture between the two companies. Both parties had, at various times, sought to buy out the other. Verizon is paying Vodafone with a mixture of cash and stock. To fund the $58.9 billion cash portion, Verizon is getting financing from J.P. Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Barclays. It will also issue $60.2 billion in stock, subject to certain price collars. It is also issuing $5 billion in notes to Vodafone, selling its stake in Vodafone Omnitel, and offering $2.5 billion in “other consideration.” The deal, if approved by regulators and both companies’ shareholders, is unlikely to mean much change for customers, but marks a continued trend of mergers and acquisitions in the US wireless business.