NEW YORK – Verizon will own its wireless business outright after agreeing to a $130 billion deal to buy the 45 per cent stake of Verizon Wireless owned by British cellphone carrier Vodafone.
The buyout, the second-largest acquisition deal on record, would give Vodafone PLC additional cash to pursue its expansion ambitions in Europe.
It would also give Verizon Communications Inc., the opportunity to boost its quarterly earnings, as it would no longer have to share a portion of proceeds from the nation’s No. 1 wireless carrier with Vodafone.
The deal isn’t expected to have much of an effect on Verizon consumers or on the company’s operations.
Vodafone had little influence on Verizon Wireless’ day-to-day operations, and the two companies have kept out of each other’s territory.
The Verizon-Vodafone partnership started in 2000, when what was then Bell Atlantic combined its East Coast wireless network with Vodafone’s operations on the West Coast.
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