Vodafone offloads China Mobile stake

Mobile phone giant Vodafone has unveiled moves to offload its stake in China Mobile for nearly double the price it paid 10 years ago.

The Newbury-based group is selling the 3.2 per cent shareholding for £4.3 billion to banks who will in turn sell the stake to institutional investors.

Vodafone said 70 per cent of the net proceeds will be returned to shareholders by way of a share buyback with the remainder used to reduce its net debt.

The moves come amid pressure from shareholders to dispose of the company’s minority stakes, which also include 45 per cent of America’s Verizon Wireless.

Chief executive Vittorio Colao said the transaction represented a near doubling of Vodafone’s original investment in China Mobile in 2000.