UAE telecommunications company Etisalat (e&) has increased its stake in Britain’s Vodafone Group, according to a bourse fill on Wednesday.
The state-backed business now holds more than 3 billion shares in Vodafone, representing 11% of the UK mobile phone company’s allocated share capital, excluding treasury shares, Etisalat said in a disclosure to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX).
A few months before, the telecoms provider, which recently rebranded to e&, became Vodafone’s biggest shareholder after taking almost a 10% stake in the British firm for $4.4 billion.
“The cause of e&’s investment in Vodafone is unchanged from the original investment, as announced on 14 May 2022, which is to achieve significant exposure to a world leader in connectivity and digital service at an attractive valuation,” the company said.
The telecom provider did not declare the importance of the latest transaction.
Etisalat conveyed AED 13 billion ($3.5 billion) in compressed revenue and AED 2.5 billion in net profit for the third quarter year. Year-over-year profit went up by 1.9%, while revenue grew by 5.5%.
Vodafone Group Plc largest shareholder boosted its stake in the telecommunications giant but said it doesn’t intend to make an offer for the British company lost a quarter of its value so far this year.
Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Telecommunications Group Co., also known as Etisalat, said it now owns 11% of Vodafone, up from 10% earlier. It will be restricted from offering a bid for the rest of Vodafone for six months under the UK Takeover Code.
Bloomberg conveyed on Thursday that the Abu Dhabi phone operator is studying the feasibility of a request for part or all of Vodafone’s stake in Johannesburg-listed Vodacom Group.
Shares in Vodafone pared failures of as much as 3.3% and were trading 3.4% up at 91.47 pence in London on Wednesday. The store lost a third of its value since May when the Middle Eastern firm snapped up a 9.8% stake for $4.4 billion at about 130 pence a share.
Vodafone’s share worth has underperformed the rest of the initiative this year, even as the sector lost value as a whole, falling more than the Stoxx Europe 600 Telecommunications Price Index.
Emirates Telecommunications raised its stake in Vodafone Group (LON: VOD) to 11% on Wednesday but said it has no plans to make an offer for the British telecoms group.
The United Arab Emirates-based telecommunications service provider, the biggest shareholder in Vodafone, previously held a stake of about 10% in the British company.
Meanwhile, Vodafone said on Monday its Chief Executive Officer Nick Read was stepping down at the end of the year.
Vodafone, whose shares have lost more than 20% of their value so far this year and have nearly halved during Read’s tenure, had warned on profit last month.
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The UAE-based telecommunications service provider, the biggest shareholder in Vodafone, previously held a stake of about 10 percent in the British company.
