Vodafone launches $546m share buyback scheme

Vodafone launches $546m share buyback scheme

Hannover, Lower Saxony, Germany - April 12, 2020: Logo of Vodafo

Vodafone has launched a new $546 million (£430 million) share buyback program.

The telecom giant announced it will start repurchasing ordinary shares until November 29, 2024, with Goldman Sachs managing this buyback programme.

Earlier this year, Vodafone pledged to return $4.37 billion (£3.44 billion) to its shareholders after offloading its Italian and Spanish divisions.

The company sold its Italian business to Swisscom for $8.7 billion (£6.7 billion) and completed the sale of its Spanish division to the UK investment firm Zegona for $5.4 billion (£4.6 billion) in May, respectively.

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Vodafone began distributing returns to shareholders in May with an initial €500 million (£430 billion) share buyback and aims to return €2 billion (£1.72 billion) this year.

The news comes as Vodafone announced the deadline for its £15 billion merger with Three UK has been extended to December.

Originally, the decision was expected by 18 September but has now been extended by eight weeks.

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) started its Phase 2 investigation into the merger in April, a deal that could create the largest mobile network operator in the UK.

According to the CMA, the delay was due to a “very wide scope” of this inquiry alongside the “technical and regulatory complexities of the sector”.

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