Vodafone Group Plc
Acquisitions
4
Major Deals Covered
$25.6B
Disclosed Deal Value
Vodafone's largest disclosed acquisition here is Liberty Global European Assets (Unitymedia) for $18.4B in 2019. This page covers 4 major deals from 2000 to 2025, each with its price where disclosed and the reason behind it.
| Company | Year | Price | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mannesmann AG (Hostile Takeover) | 2000 | Undisclosed | Hostile all-share takeover of Germany's Mannesmann, valued at roughly $148 billion (£112 billion) when Mannesmann's board accepted in February 2000. |
| Liberty Global European Assets (Unitymedia) | 2019 | $18.4B | Acquired Liberty Global's cable operations in Germany (Unitymedia), the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania for an enterprise value of about $20.8 billion (€18.4 billion), to sell combined fixed and mobile services. |
| Three UK (merger forming VodafoneThree) | 2025 | Undisclosed | Combined Vodafone UK with CK Hutchison's Three UK to form VodafoneThree, cleared by the UK Competition and Markets Authority with binding commitments. |
| Ono (Grupo Corporativo Ono) | 2014 | $7.2B | Acquired Spanish cable operator Ono for an enterprise value of about $8.14 billion (€7.2 billion) to gain its own cable and fibre network in Spain. |
2025
Combined Vodafone UK with CK Hutchison's Three UK to form VodafoneThree, cleared by the UK Competition and Markets Authority with binding commitments.
VodafoneThree committed to invest ~$14.5 billion (£11 billion) in UK networks over ten years; Vodafone has consolidated it since 1 June 2025.
Reduced the UK to three mobile network operators: VodafoneThree, EE (BT) and Virgin Media O2.
2019
$18.4B
Acquired Liberty Global's cable operations in Germany (Unitymedia), the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania for an enterprise value of about $20.8 billion (€18.4 billion), to sell combined fixed and mobile services.
Combined with Kabel Deutschland, it gave Vodafone a cable network covering much of Germany to compete with Deutsche Telekom in broadband, TV and mobile bundles.
Completed in July 2019.
2014
$7.2B
Acquired Spanish cable operator Ono for an enterprise value of about $8.14 billion (€7.2 billion) to gain its own cable and fibre network in Spain.
Let Vodafone Spain sell mobile, broadband, TV and landline bundles.
Strengthened Spanish broadband infrastructure before 2024 portfolio divestment.
2000
Hostile all-share takeover of Germany's Mannesmann, valued at roughly $148 billion (£112 billion) when Mannesmann's board accepted in February 2000.
Gave Vodafone the D2 mobile network in Germany and control of Omnitel in Italy, the base of its later German and Italian businesses.
Made Germany Vodafone's largest market, which it remains today.
Vodafone's plan under Della Valle is built around customers, simplicity and growth. On customers, it is spending to improve service quality and cut churn in Germany and the UK. On simplicity, it has cut layers of management, announced around 11,000 job reductions in 2023, and reduced the number of countries it operates in. On growth, it is pushing Vodafone Business services (IoT, cloud, security) and expanding financial services in Africa through Vodacom and Safaricom.
Vodafone Group operates a capital-intensive recurring-subscription telecommunications and digital infrastructure business model. Its revenue foundation is built on monthly mobile contracts and prepaid bundles across European consumer markets and African territories. Additionally, Vodafone drives significant revenue through converged fixed-line gigabit broadband (cable and fiber), B2B enterprise connectivity (Vodafone Business providing cloud networking, cybersecurity, and private 5G), and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity platforms. In Africa, Vodacom and Safaricom also earn fee income from M-Pesa mobile money services.
In February 2000, Vodafone completed the €180 billion takeover of German industrial and telecom giant Mannesmann, securing Germany's D2 mobile network and Italy's Omnitel in the largest corporate acquisition in history.
Vodafone outbid Bell Atlantic to acquire San Francisco-based AirTouch Communications for $62 billion, creating Vodafone AirTouch and securing a crucial 45% ownership interest in Verizon Wireless.
In February 2014, Vodafone sold its 45% holding in Verizon Wireless back to Verizon Communications for $130 billion in cash and stock, returning $84 billion directly to Vodafone shareholders.
In July 2019, Vodafone acquired Liberty Global's Unitymedia operations in Germany, Hungary, Romania, and the Czech Republic for €18.4 billion, creating a German gigabit broadband powerhouse.
In May 2024, Vodafone finalized the sale of 100% of Vodafone Spain to UK investment vehicle Zegona Communications for up to €5.0 billion (€4.1B cash and €0.9B redeemable preference shares).
In late 2024, Vodafone completed the sale of Vodafone Italy to Swisscom for €8.0 billion in all-cash consideration, merging Vodafone Italy into Swisscom's Fastweb unit.
Vodafone and CK Hutchison combined their UK operations into VodafoneThree, with Vodafone holding a controlling 51% equity interest and CK Hutchison holding 49%, subject to an £11 billion 5G investment commitment.
In 2008, Vodafone acquired an additional 15% in Vodacom from Telkom for R22.5 billion, taking its stake to a controlling 65% and later transferring diverse African operations into Vodacom.
Through Vodacom and direct holdings, Vodafone controls a dominant interest in Safaricom PLC, the creator of M-Pesa and Kenya's premier mobile and fixed telecommunications operator.
In 2021, Vodafone spun off its 82,000 European cell towers into Vantage Towers in an Frankfurt IPO, later selling a 50% co-control stake to KKR and GIP in 2023 for €6.6 billion in cash proceeds.
In July 2014, Vodafone acquired Spain's largest cable broadband operator Grupo Corporativo Ono for €7.2 billion, which was later divested as part of the 2024 Zegona exit.
Vodafone prioritizes in-market consolidation to build number-one or number-two scale in core markets, completely rejecting sub-scale or value-destructive territorial ventures.
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