Vodafone: UAE’s sovereign wealth fund bolsters position as largest shareholder

The sovereign wealth fund of the United Arab Emirates has increased its stake in communications giant, Vodafone.

Emirates Investment Authority (EIA) has upped its holdings in the Berkshire-headquartered company by one per cent to 15 per cent, according to a new filing with the London Stock Exchange.

EIA was already the largest single shareholder in Vodafone ahead of Liberty Global Holdings which has a five per cent stake.

Other large shareholders in the FTSE 100 business include The Vangaurd Group, Norges Bank and Blackrock.

Vodafone’s shares are currently trading at around 76p, giving the company a market capitalisation of more than £20bn.

Vodafone and Three still waiting on £15bn merger decision

The move from EIA comes after it emerged that Vodafone and Three will have to wait longer before finding out if a £15bn planned merger has the seal of approval from the UK’s competition regulator.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said in August that it had extended the period of time it needs to investigate the deal.

The plans to combine have been under scrutiny since being announced last summer, delaying what would create the UK’s largest mobile phone network.

The two mobile firms say the deal will allow them to invest more in their services and better compete with major rivals, EE operator BT and Virgin Media-O2.

Also last month, Vodafone launched the next stage of its share repurchase programme worth up to €500m (£430m).

In March, the firm said it would return €4bn (£3.4bn) to shareholders as part of a broader capital allocation review in an attempt to appease jittery shareholders following asset sales. 

It kicked off the return in May with an initial €500m (£430m) share buyback and reiterated plans to return €2bn to shareholders over the next 12 months.

In July, Vodafone offloaded a 10 per cent stake in Vantage Towers for €1.3 (£1.1bn) as it continued a sell off of assets to reduce its debt.