A French telecoms tycoon has acquired a stake worth about £750 million in Vodafone, increasing pressure on the company to accelerate its consolidation plans in Europe and to further monetise its towers infrastructure business.
Xavier Niel, the owner of Iliad, a smaller European competitor, has built a 2.5 per cent interest in the FTSE 100 company via Atlas Investissement, his vehicle, at a time of increased dealmaking in the telecoms industry.
Atlas said it supported Vodafone’s “publicly stated intention to pursue consolidation opportunities in selected geographies, as well as its efforts in infrastructure separation”.
“Atlas Investissement’s view is that there are opportunities to accelerate both the streamlining of Vodafone’s footprint and the separation of its infrastructure assets, further reduce costs, improve profitability, accelerate broadband development
