Vodafone completes EUR 8bn sale of Italian arm

(Sharecast News) - Vodafone Group has finalised the sale of Vodafone Italy to Swisscom for €8bn in cash, it announced on Thursday. The FTSE 100 telecommunications giant said the deal valued Vodafone Italy at a multiple of 7.6x consensus adjusted EBITDAaL and approximately 26x operating free cash flow for the 2024 financial year, marking the highest OpFCF multiple for any Vodafone market transaction in the past decade.

As part of the agreement, Vodafone said it would continue to provide specific services to Vodafone Italy for up to five years following the transaction's completion.

The proceeds would be directed toward reducing Vodafone's net debt.

Additionally, the board said it planned to return up to €2bn to shareholders once the current share buyback programme concluded, as outlined in the original transaction announcement on 15 March.

At 1422 GMT, shares in Vodafone Group were up 1.18% at 69.1p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.