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UAE telecommunications company Etisalat (e&) has further increased its stake in Britain’s Vodafone Group.
The telecoms group now holds more than 3.272 billion shares in Vodafone, representing 12% of the British mobile phone firm’s issued share capital, excluding treasury shares, Etisalat told the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) on Wednesday.
The additional shares were acquired for an undisclosed amount on Tuesday, January 17, and is part of the strategy to “obtain significant exposure to a global leader”.
“Executed at what we believe is an attractive valuation, the investment rationale is unchanged from our announcement on 14th of May 2022, specifically to obtain significant exposure to a global leader, and leverage potential commercial partnership and realise future return on our investment,” the Abu Dhabi-based firm said.
Last May, Etisalat became Vodafone’s biggest shareholder after acquiring a 9.8% stake in the company for $4.4 billion. The state-backed firm, which recently rebranded to e&, further increased its stake to 11% in December 2022.
(Reporting by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)
