UAE sells £4.4bn Vodafone stake to French telecoms tycoon
UAE sells £4.4bn Vodafone stake to French telecoms tycoon
Eir NolsoeFri, July 10, 2026 at 7:51 AM UTC
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Xavier Niel will become Vodafone’s largest shareholder - Nathan Laine/Bloomberg
The United Arab Emirates has sold its stake in Vodafone to a French telecoms tycoon, ending an investment in the company that triggered national security concerns.
Abu Dhabi-based E& has struck a £4.4bn deal to sell its stake of more than 16pc to Xavier Niel, who will become the company’s largest shareholder.
The deal, which was carried out through Mr Niel’s newly formed family holding group Vega, will bring to an end a partnership struck between Vodafone and the UAE’s state telecoms operator in 2023.
Hatem Dowidar, E&’s chief executive who was handed a seat on Vodafone’s board, has stepped down with immediate effect. E& will make a net cash return of £970m from the sale.
The UAE’s stake in Vodafone has long been the source of controversy, with ministers declaring it a national security risk in 2024.
Oliver Dowden, deputy prime minister at the time, forced the telecoms giant to establish a special committee to oversee any work with a bearing on British security.
Ministers warned that Vodafone, which holds sensitive Whitehall contracts and owns critical infrastructure such as undersea cables, risked “material influence” by the Gulf state.
E& said the decision to sell its stake in Vodafone reflected a “natural evolution” of priorities to “sharpen its strategic focus on core businesses”, while freeing up cash.
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Mr Niel, who owns French mobile and internet giant Iliad, has previously sought to woo Vodafone by bidding €10.5bn to buy its Italian operations, though his approach was ultimately rebuffed.
He has long had ties to the telecoms giant, taking a 2.5pc stake in the business in 2022 through Atlas Investissement.
The French telecom tycoon owns the telecoms brand Free and is also a major investor in newspaper Le Monde.
Vodafone said: “We know the Niel family group well and look forward to engaging with them as a supportive, long-term shareholder.
“They recognise the quality of our diversified operations and have confidence in the new chapter of Vodafone’s growth.”
Shares in Vodafone jumped as much as 13pc following the announcement, catapulting it to the top of the FTSE 100.
The stake sale follows a turnaround plan implemented by Vodafone’s boss, Margherita Della Valle, who has sought to simplify the sprawling telecoms group and boost its ailing share price.
Under her tenure, Vodafone has sold off operations in Italy and Spain and carried out a £15bn deal to combine the network operator with Three in the UK.
The company struck a £4.3bn deal in May to buy out Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing’s 49pc stake in VodafoneThree. The move will give it full control of the venture.
Source: “AOL Money”
